ExperimentStuck
by DoodleFox
Summary: Your DNA is 51% animal. You are more animal than human, therefore you are not human. Because you are not human you are not entitled to the same rights and privileges as them, nor are they required to treat you like one.
1. Overture

This story takes place in a futuristic world. Two, in fact. The first of these worlds is the Earth we know and love, where human technology has advanced beyond our wildest imaginations. Sadly, our technological successes were still no match against natural space disasters, namely meteor apocalypse.

When a stray, planet-sized space rock decided to pass through the asteroid belt, it bumped a few thousand meteors out of orbit. It was only a matter of time before the lethal projectiles were discovered on their one-way track to Earth, and seeing no way to destroy the threat, humanity decided to flee from it.

Their voyage took them to our second planet, a verdant, fertile land they christened Alternia. At first things went well for the new settlers as they began to deforest and excavate the land to fit their needs, but as time went on it became apparent to the humans that the native fauna weren't too happy about their activity.

The Lusiian, which was the name given to classify all the alien animals, were a unique form of life. Unlike the animals from old Earth, every lusus was stark white with green eyes, yet their blood could come in a rainbow of colors. They came in all shapes and sizes, but the most fascinating, and most dangerous, aspect of the Lusii was their unimaginable power.

The settlers took to calling it _the Green Lightning, _which was appropriately fitting. If a lusus was attacked or angered it would undeniably annihilate the threat with a bolt of green energy. Another lethal skill of theirs was the ability to manipulate matter and space. Many a human would mysteriously vanish in the presence of a lusus, only to be discovered weeks later- dead.

At this the humans began to retaliate. They knew it was futile to fight the unholy menace, so instead they went on the defensive. After years of failed attempts and numerous more casualties, the settlers managed to succeed in building a shield impenetrable by all things solid and of high energy with their vast knowledge. But this shield was like a two-sided coin. While it managed to keep Lusii out, the humans were also trapped in and this created new problems of their own.

Desperate for the need of expansion the humans once again began looking for a solution to keep their Lusiian enemies at bay. This time their answer would attempt to take the Lusii's power and turn it against them in a form of hybrid-human race whose sole purpose would be to be used as living weapons of war.

And this is where our story begins.


	2. Act One: Prelude

Your name is Jade and you are currently fast asleep. To any on-lookers, you seem peaceful and content. But to you it's anything but.

As soon as you fall asleep you are aware of when you are dreaming. The only problem is you've never had a good dream in your life. Every time your body slips into unconsciousness you are forced to relive the same terrible nightmare that's haunted you since you can remember.

It all starts with you in a crib. You are a newborn infant, only weeks into the world. Bubbly and giggly, you smile non-comprehensively at the faces who grin down on you. Their voices are soothing and you trust them, although you cannot understand a single thing they say. You are completely calm- until they pin you down.

Suddenly you stop laughing. You try to move your chubby arms and legs but realize that you can't. You turn to the faces watching over you, seeking explanation, only to find that their faces have gone dark and their gleaming grins have turned malicious.

One of the faces pulls out a long syringe filled with a glowing green fluid. Your heart goes cold at the sight of it.

The evil smile brings the needle down slowly, closer and closer to your face.

You're doing all a baby can; screaming, crying, struggling will all your infant strength, but you know there's no escape.

Your mind is racing, dreading the inevitable pain that you know is about to come.

With a sharp jab, the needle pierces through the skin in your upper right arm. You shriek at the top of your little lungs as the concoction infiltrates your bloodstream.

The pain that follows is excruciating. It feels as if you are being burned, electrified, and washed over with every kind of acid all at once, and that still is nowhere close to describing how unbearable it is.

The poison spreads slowly, infecting every inch of your body, making every microscopic muscle contraction torture. You find that you can no longer scream because it feels as if someone's stuffed a wet sock down your throat.

Suddenly you spasm, and feel your body begin to change; your ears and hands and feet start to morph, sprouting white hair that should only be found on dogs. A stabbing pain in your lower back tells you that you're sprouting a tail. The dimensions of your body are becoming less and less human as they seem to want to shift into canine anatomy, and for a minute you dread if you're actually becoming one.

For minutes on end the transformation takes place, each second becomes more unbearable than the last. You wonder how it's even possible to be able to live in such constant pain. The toxin has contaminated every cell in your body, every fiber of your being, tearing apart everything that makes you what are, breaking down _who_ you are.

A fresh wave of agony washes over you as the chemical that's hijacked your body begins to finish its job. The poison seeps into your heart, making your pulse rapidly rise in a crescendo, beating faster than physically possible. Never before had you so desperately wished for death to come to you, and you pray that the poison kills you fast. The torture is unimaginable, and just when you think that your heart is about to burst-

You awake, screaming in terror from the nightmare. Your body is coated in sweat and you're panting fast and hard.

Slowly your heart rate ebbs, your trembling passes, and the nightmare fades. You bring your knees up to your chest and hug them tightly as tears fall unto your white gown. You've had to suffer through that same dream every night you could remember all your life.

Only… it wasn't a dream.

Your name is Jade, and you live your nightmare every day because you are Hybrid-Experiment 413.


	3. Act One, Scene One

Your name is Jade and you are currently huddled in the fetal position, pressed as hard as you can in one of the back corners of your stainless-steel cage.

It's been a couple of minutes since your outburst and you've almost recovered your composure. Other residents shuffle and stir in the cages around you, but they've long grown custom to your nightly routine and no one wakes.

No one that is, except hybrid experiment 612.

"The night terror, again?" A monotone voice whispers from somewhere above you.

"Mm-hm," You whimper, slightly nodding your head even though you know the speaker can't see you.

"Do you want to talk about it?" The voice asks.

"Mm-mm," you shake your head.

"I'm here if you do." For a while silence follows.

Every night it's the same thing; you wake up screaming, hybrid experiment 612 asks if you want to talk about it, and you always refuse. But you always end up talking about it anyway and tonight is no different.

Moving to the front of your enclosure, you crane your neck to find the cage of hybrid experiment 612. Six-one-two… experiment… hybrid… How you hate those words! Hybrid experiment 612 has a name just like you do, and you intend to use it.

"Dave," You call out quietly. "Are you still awake?"

"Yes," The voice from before replies. Again silence follows. You'll talk when you're ready and Dave won't rush you, but for now you have nothing to say.

You look up at his cage while you let your mind wander. Dave's enclosure hangs is one of two that hang from the ceiling and is shaped like an oversized bird cage. But that's probably because he was one. Even in the dark you can clearly see the label on the outside of his crate;

'AVIAN HYBRID EXPERIMENT 612

SURVIVOR: IMPERFECT'

This doesn't mean anything to you though. Hybrids can't read.

From your position you can see Dave's profile; his bleach blonde hair, his read eyes, his magnificent red and black wings and his clawed hands which he tries to hide between his knees along with his clawed feet.

Your heart aches for a moment. Although he'd never admit it, you know how much Dave hates his deformities, especially his hands and feet. They scare him and fill his heart with self-loathing because he thinks he is in no way a human, but some kind of monster instead.

Everyone here thinks they are a monster.

It's what you've been trained to think.

"Why do they do this to us, Dave?" You say like you have countless nights before.

"I don't know, Jade," Dave replies like a well-rehearsed actor.

"Do you think they do it for some greater purpose?"

"They might be."

"…

Do you… do you think, if they _do_ do it for some greater purpose, do you think that purpose is good?"

"I don't know…"

You decide to take a new route away from your normal conversation.

"If, perhaps, they _do_ do this to us for some greater good, what do you think that greater good is?"

Dave was quiet a moment.

"I wouldn't know," he spoke at last. "But if that happens to be the case, then I hope whoever benefits from us better have suffered just as much, if not more." Now it's your turn to fall silent.

"I know you don't know why they do this to us," you say after a length, "But what do you _think_ is why they do this to us? And don't say 'I don't know.' We all make up explanations to comfort ourselves."

"Why do _I_ think they treat us like pieces of shit?" Dave asks to himself. "I think… I think it's just because they can."

Your mind grows morbid as you think about Dave's cynical theory. He was right, in a sense. The scientists here could do with you whatever they wanted and often had. Who was there to tell them they couldn't? To them, hybrids could be treated however they saw fit. To them, hybrids didn't have rights or names. They weren't even considered people. To them, hybrids were just a number on a card along with a clipboard and data sheet.

"I think they must do it for something good," you mumble. "Because I like to believe that people are naturally good. They wouldn't hurt us if there wasn't a good, justifiable purpose behind it."

"Your soul is too kind, Jade," Dave says.

"Has… has anyone ever tired asking the scientists why they do this to us?" you say tentatively.

Dave thinks about this. "I can't say. I know I haven't." The room you are both in begins to grow lighter with the rising sun.

"I think… I'll do just that, then. I'll ask them," you say suddenly. Dave eyes you critically. You don't know why you said it, but you did and it scares you a bit.

Yet deep down, you knew you meant it.

"I want to know, Dave. We all want to know," You justify. "But if nobody's ever bothered to ask, then why not ask?"

"What if they don't want you to ask? You know what's happened other times hybrids start questioning orders." You shudder at the memory of hybrids crying for forgiveness after questioning orders. Those hybrids often came back with many lashes on their backs.

"I won't know the answer to that until I try, will I?" you resolve.

Before Dave can reply the lights flick on and the room begins to come to life as machines start to whir and hum and hybrids start to wake.

"Okay! Let's get today started! A scientist says as he enters the room. Hybrids' hearts stop. With the safety of the night over, the time they dreaded most was upon them again. They cowered in in silence, waiting to hear the number of today's first victim.

"First one up for tests today is…" the scientist clumsily flips through his notes as the experiments anxiously huddle in fear. "Hybrid experiment four-one-three!"

Your heart skips a beat. It seems as if karma heard your decree and decided to let you have your chance to ask your captors first thing that day. All around you, you hear sighs of relief from the hybrids who have been spared being the first test subject of the day.

At the sound of his voice, your cell automatically detaches from the wall, and the scientist begins to wheel you away.

You catch Dave's face as you turn a corner. He mouths to you i'good luck.'/i You nod in acknowledgement at him. You'll need all the luck you can get.

Fearful yet determined, you brace yourself for today's torture.


	4. Act One, Scene Two

Your name is Hybrid Experiment 612 but you prefer to be called Dave. It was the name you were born with.

It was your name when you were human…

You find it funny how you can remember your human name. All hybrids seemed to know theirs despite no one ever saying it to them.

Then again, every hybrid clearly remembers the process of their metamorphosis and you were all just newborns when that happened…

It seemed to be a constant for all hybrids that lived through the transformation, that unique knowledge. It was an undeniable truth branded into your hearts. You all _knew_ you had a name, and you all _knew_ you were once human.

You also all knew that you were all orphans.

Abandoned by your parents shortly after birth and left in the "care" of what they thought was an orphanage, every child in the Bioengineered Experiments and Testing Accommodations Laboratory was raised to believe they were worthless and unwanted.

And many of them believed it.

Something rustles in the cage next to you. It's Hybrid Experiment 611, another avian hybrid, and your fraternal twin brother, Dirk. He's just woken up.

Stretching his snowy white and black tipped wings as far as the cage will allow, he turns to you and rubs the sleep out of his tired orange eyes.

"What did I miss?" He asks sleepily.

"Jade was first on the list this morning. They took her away already," you tell him.

"You look tired. Did you sleep?"

"Do I ever sleep?" you reply sardonically. He doesn't answer that.

Moving to the edge of his cage, Dirk peers down at the wall of cages below.

"Rose, you awake yet?" Dirk asks.

"Ever since the first rays of daylight illuminated the room," a feminine voice replied.

You look down below you to find Rose, a felidae hybrid experiment. Her light blonde hair matches her furry blonde ears, hands, feet and tail. She looks up and fixes you a cat stare with her brilliant violet eyes.

Maybe it's just the fact that she is half cat and you are half bird, but you can't help but find her blink-less gaze unsettling.

"Do you suppose Jade will go through with it?" she asks you. "Do you really think she'll ask our imprisoners what the purpose of our existence is?"

It occurs to you that if Rose was up since dawn like she said she was then she most likely had overheard your conversation with Jade.

"Probably," you say. "She's a determined little fucker."

"What are you talking about?" Dirk asks, feeling out of the loop. You bring him up to speed with a quick recap.

"I don't know what you think, but you can't deny the kid's got guts," you conclude. "Whatever answer she gets, I hope it's a kind one. Verbal or physical." Dirk and Rose nod silently in agreement. Physical punishment was often the answer to all the questions you asked and all the mistakes you made here.

"I hope she's okay," you sigh a little. "I certainly wouldn't want to be her right now."

XXX

You decide to be Jade again, and right now you are standing at the entrance to a giant maze.

"Your objective is to navigate the maze as fast as you can and avoid obstacles," A voice says through a speaker above you. "You will begin at the sound of the buzz."

"Um, excuse me," You cut in politely. "I have a question."

"Yes?"

You swallow a lump in your throat and try to calm your jitters. It's now or never.

"W-what is the purpose of all these tests, and why do we have to do them?"

"Your objective is to navigate the maze as fast as you can and avoid obstacles." The voice repeats.

"No, no! That's not what I meant!" Your voice begins to waiver and loses confidence. You have to hurry and ask your question before lose your nerve from fear. "W-why were hybrids created?" You finally manage to choke out. "What is the purpose of our existence?"

"That information is classified and demanding said information is punishable by physical means." The overhead voice says after a pause. "You will now begin navigating the maze."

A buzzer goes off but you don't budge. "Please," you beg. "Our lives must have some meaning. Can't we at least know why we were created?"

"That information is classified and demanding said information is punishable by physical means," the speaker says again, this time impatiently. "You will now begin navigating the maze." The buzzer goes off a second time.

"But-!"

"Begin your test!" Before you can ask again, you're taken by surprise with an electric shock. Your starting plate is rigged with conductors.

With a yelp of pain, you leap off the starting plate and enter the maze which automatically shuts off the entrance behind you. At once the maze becomes alive with dangers far worse than a mild electrocution.

You begin to run down on all fours as fast as you can. All your senses are alert; your eyes scan for anything sharp or pointy waiting to impale you, your ears listen for the buzz of electricity and the hissing of poisonous creatures wanting to bite you, your nose is carefully searching for traces of gas that want to paralyze your body and leave you defenseless.

Countless times you've done these mazes, but each time they get more dangerous. One can never be too careful.

You come to your first fork in the maze. The first thing you do is take a quick sniff in both directions. The right route has traces of gas in it, but the left one is clear. You go left.

You're half way down the left corridor when the blades spring from the walls.

Reacting faster than humanly possible, you duck then jump, barely avoiding the saws by millimeters. One passes too close for comfort by your tail, and you find that if feels a few hairs lighter after you land to safety on the other side.

You race on, still alert for danger, but fail to notice a trip wire in your path. Your front paw snags it, causing slots up on either sides of the wall to open. A menacing hissing sound reaches your ears and you stop dead in your tracks.

Metallic colored snakes with glowing red eyes poke their heads out of the slots, zero in on you then begin to pour out of the walls in drones.

"Silver serpents," you gasp then bolt down the hall as fast as your legs can carry you.

Silver serpents were possibly the worst obstacle to encounter in the maze. They were unbelievably fast, relentless, and above all, lethal. One bite from them and you would be dead before a scientist could send for help.

The maze is no longer about strategy, or completion. It's now a race for survival.

It's impossible to out run silver serpents. Your only hope was to outsmart them and finish the maze before they catch up to you.

You throw caution to the wind and run blindly.

This time you're picking the most dangerous routes. Your ears catch the buzz of electric plates to your right and you take a sharp turn. Ahead you can clearly see the shock plates on the floor, sparking and crackling with electricity.

Putting on an extra burst of speed, you race up as close as you can get to the first plate and make a death defying leap. You can feel the electric sparks dance across your skin and fur as you sail through the air.

You hit the ground hard on the other side, but quickly recover. Behind you, you hear zaps and squeaks of the first silver serpents being electrified.

You don't stop to look.

You know it won't hold them back for long.

Picking paths at random you're now only on the lookout for dead ends. Running into a dead end now will mean certain death.

The hiss of the silver serpents begins to grow again and your heart fills with dread. Racing around another corner and you find that the walls in this section are covered in small holes.

"Dart walls!" you pant and dash toward them.

Despite the fatigue in your legs you continue to force a sprint. Small spears begin to shoot from the walls but you are moving too fast to be hit. The silver serpents aren't so lucky. Dozens more become impaled and skewered, but a few still manage to snake through.

You make one more wild turn and to your surprise you find the exit in your sight. Relief floods through you as you bound toward freedom.

But just before you reach safety you're hit by a spray of noxious gas.

You gasp out of reflex only to realize your mistake. You try to hold your breath but it's too late. You've inhaled the toxin and suddenly your body is not in your control.

Falling head over heels, your muscles begin to spasm and contort. You notice that you're only inches away from the finish line.

A long, slow, collective hiss fills your ears. Rolling your eyes you catch a glimpse as the deadly reptiles slither around the bend. They're moving slower now, barely faster than a crawl. They know they've won.

You struggle, despite the lack of control of your body. Your limbs twitch and writhe, but you're still completely helpless.

The silver serpents surround you and glide their cold, scaly hides across your body. They know you're at their mercy and they're teasing you, purposely trying to fill you with fear before delivering the final blow. And it's working.

One serpent coils around your neck and rises up. It spreads its jaws, revealing two incredibly sharp fangs glistening with poison.

_'Oh God, oh no, oh God, oh no,'_ your mind screams. _ 'I don't want to die. I don't want to die!'_

A sense of terror suddenly comes over you like never before. For one heart stopping moment you were no longer Jade, you were no longer hybrid experiment 413; you were just raw, primal fear.

The serpent strikes and for a split second all you see is fangs. The next thing you know, you're seeing green; a bright vivid green that radiates pure energy. It's so overpowering you can barely stand it.

But just as fast as the vision of green came- it suddenly went.

Slowly, collapsed out on the cold floor, you come to the realization that you're now miraculously across the maze's finishing line.

The silver serpent who struck at you hisses in rage as the timer buzzes, signaling your completion of the maze and shutting them off from reaching you.

Scientists come rushing out, chattering excitedly to one another. They surround you and examine you intensely. There are much more than usual, and you find it unsettling.

Your body's still hijacked from the gas, but you're so utterly exhausted for some reason, you don't think you could have done anything different even if you had tried.

Your head is swimming and the edges of your vision are beginning to go dark.

One scientist gently picks you up and places you back in your cage.

"Finally," he says to his colleagues. "After years of trying we have finally succeeded." His voice sounds echo-y to you. "We have perfected a hybrid that can perform_ the omnipotence_."

_'omnipotence…Omnipotence…Omnipotence…'_ you hear the words reverberate in your skull as you slip into unconsciousness.

And then you hear nothing.


	5. Act One, Scene Three

As Jade is currently passed out, you take the opportunity to be one of the other hybrids, and after much thought and consideration you decide to be Dirk.

You've been sitting silent in your cage for a few hours now, fiddling with the edge of your standard-issue white T-shirt that all the hybrids wear. Jade's yet to return. Normally tests don't take this long for any single experiment. Could something have happened to her?

You can feel unease wafting off your brother. He's noticed Jade's unusually lengthy absence as well, and even though his face is blank, you can clearly sense his concern.

All at once the doors of the room burst open and a horde of scientists pour in, all talking at the same time.

Hybrids in cages everywhere scrabble back in panic. So many scientists at once isn't the norm and it sets them all on edge.

You hardly pay them any attention though, because you, as well as your brother and Rose, have spotted something amongst the scientists.

It's Jade.

"Crate return," a scientist says, and Jade cage automatically wheels off and reattaches itself to the wall. From your angle you can clearly see Jade sprawled out in unconsciousness, lying limp on the floor of her cell. Her back is to you.

Out of your peripheral you can see Dave's face go hard.

You turn your focus on the scientists and try to make sense of their conversation. Words and phrases like _'omnipotence'_ and 'perfect hybrid' come up a lot.

"But Director," one scientist says to another. "Now that we know she possesses the _omnipotence_ how will we be able to detain her? Won't she just teleport herself out?"

"My hypothesis, Doctor," The Director says, "Is that the hybrid can only utilize the _omnipotence_ under extreme stress or danger. It's like a last resort reflex. It can't be accessed at will and is very taxing on the body as our subject here demonstrated." The Director goes over to Jade's cage and rewrites something on the label. He gets up when he finishes and you see the revision;

CANINE HYBRID EXERIMENT 413.

SURVIVOR: IMPERFECT PERFECTED

Of course this means nothing to you because you can barely read.

"And you forget, Doctor," The Director continues. "The entire laboratory is surrounded by a force field, as is the city. If for some reason she does manage to use the omnipotence by choice, she can't escape from here. The shield prevents it."

"I can't believe we finally succeeded," The doctor said as the scientists began to file out with their next victim. "The day we've envisioned is finally in sight. Maybe if we subject all the hybrid experiments to extreme stress they'll unlock the _omnipotence_ too."

"Indeed, Doctor," the director said as they exited the room at the end of the queue. "Now it's only a matter of time before we have an entire army of perfected hybrids to train and lay waste to those troublesome Lusii that prevent us from expansion. Soon the human race will finally be able to take what is rightfully ours…" You hear his voice echo down the hallway as the door slowly shuts behind them.

The lock finally clicks into place, and then there is silence.

"So that's the reason," You say later that evening after all the tests had been run that day.

Most of the hybrids had already retired for the night, worn out from a day of testing. You and Dave had been spared from trials that day, and Rose had only been subjected to puzzle solving problems for her tests, so the three of you were all still very much awake.

Jade was still unconscious.

You study your brother who is currently staring sternly at the setting sun. The dying rays illuminate his figure in an almost haunting manner. His glossy russet wings reflect the orange light almost menacingly, and the light shining in his red eyes make them look like they're on fire.

Dave hasn't said a word or hardly moved a muscle since Jade came back. He shows no sign of having heard you, but you go on anyway.

"All this time we we're being trained and prepared to fight Lusii. We're living weapons of war…"

"It seems so obvious in hindsight," Rose says quietly. You watch her as she grooms her furry ears with her cat tongue and paws. You smirk a little, finding the act funny, but you're honestly no better when it comes to preening your feathers.

"All those tests were designed to teach us to be agile and resourceful. The mental exercises taught us to be calculating, the sparring exercises taught us to be killers, the mazes taught us to be defensive and how to use our environment, all the physical exertions we were forced to preform helped us shape and tone our bodies." She eyes you mid-lick. "If I had any money I'd be willing to bet that any single one of us is stronger than a single scientist. Knowing what I know now I assume we'd already make lethal killing machines despite lacking, what did they call it? The_ omnipotence_?"

You shrug your feathery shoulders. You know just as much about this _omnipotence_ thing as she does, which isn't a lot. Apparently it was something very important to the scientists and Jade sees to possess it.

A tired moan sounds from a cage under Rose, and all three of you instantly turn your attention to it.

You watch, sick with empathy as Jade rolls over in her cage. Her eyes briefly flutter open and she sluggishly rolls them to look at you and Dave before shutting them again. She grips her sides and lets out a sound that is some sort of cross between another moan and a sigh.

Every action seems to be an effort for her and you can only guess at what she went through today.

Dave is the first to speak.

"Jade…" He says, his voice tight.

It takes a long time before she responds. At first you thought she fell asleep when her breathing became deep and slow.

"I'm so tired…" she sighs, barely above a whisper.

"What happened to you?" Dave asks.

"A maze…" She says after a length. Her voice is so quiet you have to strain your ears to hear her.

"What happened? Was there something new in the maze that did this to you?"

Jade shakes her head weakly and looks up at Dave sadly, but you can tell every movement is a labor and she's having trouble focusing.

"I don't know… what happened…" She speaks slowly with long breaks in between her words. "Something… I did…"

You each try to piece together her words while she rests. But before one of you can say anything she speaks again.

"Guys… I'm sorry… I couldn't… get an… answer."

"That's okay, Jade," Dave cuts in. "We know now. The scientists were stupid and let it slip when they brought you back."

Jade's eyes glimmer with fear, confusion and curiosity. You can tell she wants to know.

"Dave, I think that information should be withheld from her until she's in better sorts," Rose warns.

"No, I… want… to know…" Jade manages to say a little louder.

"Jade, please," you speak up. "It's very distressing. Can you wait until you feel better?"

"I can… handle it…"

"If she wants to know then I'll tell her," Dave says while eyeing you and Rose with miss-guided scorn. He moves to the edge of his cage and looks down into Jade's. "We're living weapons, Jade," He says harshly. "We're being transformed and trained to kill Lusii so humans can infect this goddamn planet. They torture us so we'll become tough then they'll send us off to fight to the death so they won't have to.

"And apparently, you did something-, some _omni-_ thing that they really fucking liked and now they're going to start forming a whole fucking army that can to the same thing."

All the anger and frustration Dave had been keeping pent up that day finally started to seep out. Unfortunately he had nowhere to direct it but at his friends.

"They also said they're going to start putting us all in 'life or death' scenarios to try to trigger the same thing you did. You know what that means? It means if we don't make the grade we're gonna end up dead. And it's all because of you."

"Dave!" Rose shouts, but he turns his back to you all.

Out of the corner of your eye you catch Jade staring tiredly at Dave. She slowly closes her eyes and you watch as tears silently roll down her check.

No one says anything else for the rest of the night.

You're suddenly back to being Dave, but you're reconsidering naming yourself to Giant Feathery Ass-hole after your recent explosion.

You've cooled off sufficiently and have come to regret your words. You didn't mean to snap at Jade and you fucking hate yourself now that you did.

Never before had you felt such intense hate and anger. Hate for the scientists, anger for their cruelty and their plans in store for you. Now that you knew the meaning of your existence you can see you're just some expendable puppet being used to fight _t__heir_ war.

You never asked for this.

You never asked to be orphaned, you never asked to be mutated, you never asked to be put on the sign-up list for their militia, you never asked for a death sentence by combating a lusus.

Your rage for the injustice was so strong it blinded you and you couldn't keep your tongue in check. Now you want nothing more than to take it all back.

You want to apologize to Jade and tell her how sorry you are…

… And how scared you are…

But she's already fast asleep.

At least, that's what Dave thought.

Little did he know that you were actually awake, silently raging a mental war in your head.

Living weapons of war? Expendable tools? Killing machines? _That's_ why your humanity was robbed from you at infancy? Deformed and raised to be a killer just so humans could get some stupid land? And then what? If you succeeded, you'll either be thrown back into confinement for more tests, or shunned by society for the freak you are, or killed on sight for the danger you can be.

You're silently crying so hard you can't believe your body could produce so many tears. Your head is throbbing and you're still exhausted beyond measure, but your thoughts won't let you sleep.

And what was that green light you experienced earlier that day? It felt like you had harnessed some unfathomable energy, only to have it steal from you all of yours. But it resulted in you teleporting right across the finish line to safety, away from the Silver Serpents.

Had you always had this ability? Did any of the other hybrids have it too? The scientists seemed to think you did, and now they wanted to force it out of each one of you.

Yet you were only able to use it in a death-case scenario, which means other hybrids might only be able to use it that way too. And as Dave said, this is going to lead to a lot of do-or-die tests now. And it's all your fault.

Dave… Your mind goes back to the conversation you had with Dave earlier that day. This morning you had said you believed people were naturally good. You decide to take this back now. You've lost faith that there is good in the hearts of men. He was right. Hybrids are going to start dying soon if they can't perform like you did. You're so fucking torn up inside, all you want to do is cry your eyes out and apologize for the rest of eternity. If any of your friends happened to meet their end in an upcoming trial it could very well be because of you and what you did.

Whatever what the fuck that thing you did even was. What had they called it? You vaguely remember hearing it before passing out. Oh yeah, that's right. They called it the_ omnipotence_.

With this little bit of information sealed away in your memory, you slip into a deep, dark, uneasy sleep.


	6. Act One, Scene Four

The next morning you decide to be Rose, seeing as she's the only named character you've yet to be.

Like every morning before, you're up at the first signs of a new day. The morning light shines weakly into the single window of the room. You look through the glass at the beautiful young sky and are overcome with a strong sense of longing.

You long to be on the other side of that glass. You long to feel the sun on your skin. You long to see and experience all that lies beyond these walls that seal you away from the world. But you know the chances of that ever happening are minute.

The first of friends that you check up on this morning is Jade. Her cell is three columns over and four rows down from yours. Pressing your face against the bars of your cage, you glimpse Jade apparently asleep in hers. Next you turn your focus to the ceiling. You can only see Dirk's back as it rises and falls with his breathing. Dave is awake but his back is to you. You ponder if Dave's ever slept a night in his life.

You start your day with a routine wash. It's a force of habit you wish you could stop, but the feline in your blood won't let you. You've just finished cleaning both your ears when something out of the ordinary happens.

The door to the room quietly creeks open, but not quietly enough to go undetected by you. It's still too early to begin today's tests. What's going on?

A single scientist steps in and shuts the door behind him. The door's click alerts Dave to his presence, but the avian hybrid wisely stays silent.

You watch with fascination as the man moves to a control panel near the door. He pushes a series of buttons and to your surprise the door of the kennel three columns over and four rows down swings open.

A manual lock! You had no idea the cages would respond to such a thing. All your life you had only seen cages operated by voice commands that only reacted to specific voices. A manual lock could be utilized by anyone… This realization fills you with excitement.

The scientist walks over to Jade's cage. You stare in your unblinking cat way as he takes her pulse, listens to her lungs, and draws a blood sample. He scribbles something down on a clipboard then gives her a shot of what you only assume is a type of steroid that revives a person's strength. Then he quietly closes the cage, resets the lock, and soundlessly leaves the room.

The sound of talons scraping across metal assaults your ears. Pinning them back, you squint up at Dave who's dragging his claws across his cage floor in frustration.

"Dave, stop. You're hurting my ears," you hiss. Dave balls up his fists and puts them in his lap.

"Sorry," he mutters.

Dirk awakens at the sharp sound. "God, what'd I miss _now?_" He yawns.

"A scientist came in and was messing with Jade," Dave says. "The little shit thought he was being all sneaky."

"But did you see what he did, Dave?" You say enthusiastically. "He unlocked a cage with manual buttons and not his voice."

"Yeah, I saw."

"You know what that could mean? It means anyone could manually unlock any cage."

"Yeah, but to do that, we'd need to be _outside_ of one to begin with."

"I know, but I find the possibility exhilarating."

"Don't get your hopes up, Rose," Dave sneers. "I know what you're thinking, but it's never gonna happen."

Below you a whimpering starts and you all turn to it like a reflex. Jade's waking up.

The first thing she does is attempt to sit up. She manages to push up her front half, but her arms shake so violently that they threaten to give out on her. Taking a deep breath, she pulls herself into a sitting position, leaning heavily on one of the cell walls for support.

"Jade, how do you feel?" Dirk asks.

"Like my body's made of rubber," her words are a bit slurred, but her voice is much stronger and her eyes seem clearer than yesterday. "You're all up early."

You're all silent as Jade tries to stretch her body. She's extremely unsteady and uncoordinated, but her determination helps her regain her motor skills.

You sense unease wafting off Jade but don't understand why until you pick up the feeling of regret emanating from Dave, and you realize that neither is willing to look at the other.

The tension between the four of you builds until the laboratory officially wakes up that morning. The stress suddenly slacks when the lights switch on and the machines begin to warm up, but it immediately returns when two scientists walk in.

"Okay, fellas," one says cheerfully as if fatal testing was a fun thing. "Big day today! We're making scientific progress in leaps and bounds. We're gonna double up the trials to get more tests in each day, so show us what you've got!"

"From now on we're running two tests at a time," says the second scientist. "And our first two lucky participants are… hybrid experiments six-one-one and six-one-two!"

Your heart skips when you hear Dirk's and Dave's numbers called. The two twins are blank faced, but you can smell their fear. You're all hyper aware how dangerous the tests will be from here on out.

You shift your gaze downward to see Jade's reaction. She's gone pale as a ghost but her eyes are wide in apology. It's almost as if you can hear her thoughts saying "I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…" repeating over and over again.

The experimenters' wheel the two hybrids out of the room and everyone falls into the routine silence.

The day slowly passes by and no one says a word. The air in the room seems more oppressive than usual, and although there is no way for you to determine the time your internal clock tells you Dirk and Dave have been gone longer than usual. You wonder when they'll come back… or if they're coming back at all.

The door clicks and your eyes lock onto it. It slowly swings inward as a scientist comes in. Behind him he drags in two cages.

It's Dave and Dirk.

You exhale a breath you didn't realize you were holding. Dave and Dirk are back and they're in bad shape, but at least they're alive.

The scientist returns their cages and takes two more then leaves the room again without a second glance.

This time one of the two cages is you.

X

You don't know what to say, but you feel as if you should say _something_. You try to think but you can't form a single coherent thought in your head.

There in front of you are Dave and Dirk, lying battered, bruised and breathless. When the crates return to the ceiling one of Dave's onyx and rusty colored feathers floats down into your cage. It's bloody.

It's only until the scientist leaves again do you dare speak up.

"D-Dave? Dirk?" You ask tentatively. Your only response is exasperated breathing. When no one talks after a few minutes you figure Dave and Dirk have fallen asleep out of sheer exhaustion. Rose has been taken for testing and none of the other hybrids ever want to talk.

As if they ever had anything interesting to say anyway.

The next time the scientist comes back he is on schedule. But this time he returns with only one cage.

You're faint with relief when you realize it's Rose, just as worn out as Dave and Dirk were when they returned. But what happened to the other hybrid?

Again the man calls two crate numbers and takes them away. He repeatedly does this for the rest of the day, but not all the cages come back.

You're alone with your thoughts while your friends recuperate, but your mind is in turmoil. After a while you notice your thoughts are going in a loop;

'_They're taking more away each time because of me. It's my fault. They want them to perform _the omnipotence _because of me. It's my fault. No one can do it and some end up not coming back because of me. It's my fault. It's all my fault.'_

You're on the brink of mental despair, threatening to fall over into a pit of eternal self-loathing when a new thought rescues you.

'_But I didn't turn them into hybrids.'_

You stop and ponder this notion. It was true; you didn't make them into half-human, half-animal freaks. The scientists did. And they did it to you too. It was their fault.

Their fault…

You go wide-eyed at this realization. If it hadn't been for them, you would all still be human. If it hadn't been for them you wouldn't have to spend your life in a cage. If it hadn't been for them, you wouldn't have performed _the omnipotence_. If it hadn't been for them the others wouldn't be dying because of what_ they_ did to_ you._

It was their fault…

It was their fault.

_It was their fault. _

IT WAS ALL THEIR FAULT!

Something changes in you then. For the first time in your life you allow yourself to feel a feeling you've always repressed. You realize there's no need to do that now. Your anger is justified.

You don't sleep at all that night. Instead, you lie awake… and think.


	7. Act One, Scene Five

**Author's Note: I keep forgetting doesn't like it when I use astrisks or hyphens as breaks in my works. Sorry if this has confused anybody. For future reference, three large "X"s indicate a POV change, and a single small "x" is just a break/time skip.**

You wake up the next day much later than normal. _Much _later. In fact, the angle of the sun tells you it's almost noon.

The first thing you look to is the ceiling. Dirk and Dave are still there, looking like they just woke up as well. Maybe the scientists were giving all the survivors a day of rest before they continued with that hybrid's particular trial schedule? If that was so then Jade was at risk of being tested today.

Looking down you catch a glimpse of her body in her cell. Surely she wasn't still asleep as well, was she?

Just then a scientist walks in. "Good job yesterday, guys," he says less than enthusiastically. "We're getting results, just not the results we want, so we're just going to have to keep at it. Maybe our little star here can show you how it's done, right four-one-three?"

At that moment Jade does something that sets your nerves on edge, something you never thought possible for her to do-

She growls.

It's a deep, un-human growl that makes your fur involuntarily rise. Hybrids all around you squeal and shriek as the try to scrabble away from Jade's cage. Dave and Dirk can't help but ruffle their feathers. Even the scientist takes a step back.

For a moment there is a silent standoff.

"Hm," The scientist narrow's his eyes then jots a note on Jade's clip board before wheeling her out of the room.

After the door shuts, you Dave and Dirk each exchange a dumbfounded glance.

XXX

The next several days are a living hell for you. As if your life wasn't already hell.

It started when you and Dirk had been taken away for your first potentially fatal test.

Krats.

You were put into an empty room and were forced to face krats. Krats were a type of feline made of a mix of every big cat imaginable. Spotted or striped, thick manes or short fur, every krat was big, agile, equipped with sharp fangs, claws, and a taste for feathers.

You and your brother were separated for testing, probably to increase your sense of helplessness and heighten your fear.

Well, it fucking worked.

There was a perch thirty feet above you, offering a route to safety, but despite having wings you can't fly. You've never had a chance to practice and strengthen your wing muscles.

You knew why the ledge was there, though. It would be so easy to reach if you just knew how to preform _the omnipotence…_

You slowly retreated into a corner as the krats were released into the room. You were defenseless and they knew it, but like nearly all the creatures you've had to face in the laboratory, they liked to play with their food before eating it.

You'll admit it, you were fucking scared. But you weren't going to let fear overtake you and make you stand paralyzed on the spot while the big cats devoured you alive. If today was your day to die, you'd make sure to go down with a fight.

With an ear-piercing screech you made the first move, taking a flying leap at the leading krat with your talons extended. You aimed for the eyes. Within seconds there was blood on your claws and your white uniform was stained red. The now-sightless krat lets out a caterwaul of pain and tried to back up in retreat. It bumped into another krat while doing so and lashed out at it in blind panic. Literally.

All the other krats were taken by surprise and you took the opportunity to disable another feline while you could. You slash at a face and gauge out two more eyes. No hesitation. No regret. No fear. It's either you or them in this death trap and you already decided it wasn't going to be you.

The two blinded krats began to attack anything they ran into, unable to tell if they were friend or foe. You grin a little, realizing that this put you at an advantage if all the krats eliminated each other.

A snarl from behind caused you to jump out of the way from swiping claws not a moment too soon. The krat's nails tore four ragged lines in the fabric of your white pants, but luckily missed the skin. Despite flapping your wings as hard as you could, you got no more than half an inch of air beneath your feet as you hopped away to safety.

The krats wouldn't be taken off guard so easily again. Ignoring their wounded, they turned on you again and lunged.

You met their assault head on, slashing and clawing at throats and sensitive areas. More krats were becoming wounded but there were just too many to keep at bay.

You felt teeth embedding themselves into your flank and with a furious shout fueled by pain you began to tear your attacker's face apart.

While preoccupied, another krat jumped onto your back and latched itself onto one of your wings.

That was going a step too far.

Despite your flightless-ness you'd do anything to protect your wings. The searing pain in your back was quickly blocked by adrenaline surging through your blood stream.

Twisting your arms back, you sing your talons into the krat's gums and raked them across the soft tissue. Spitting and hissing, the krat let go and retreated.

You fought for minutes on end. Everywhere you turned there was a krat waiting to snap at you. Every swing of your arms left you coated in more and more sticky blood and fur. You couldn't keep fighting at this rate. With each blow, your energy flagged a little more. Every time a krat swiped, they got closer and closer to slicing you.

After what felt like hours, the last krat falls dead at your feet, blood running from its jugular.

You were breathless and covered in cuts and bruises. Your talons were clogged with fur, you're missing a good number of feathers, and there isn't a spot on you that's not coated in blood. You can't escape its metallic, iron smell as it dries.

There's still the problem of reaching the plat form. Until you figure out a way to reach it, you're still testing, but you're so dizzy with pain you can't think straight.

You took a few staggering steps and lean heavily on the wall. After a few deep breaths you noticed something; the wall was plaster-like.

Stiffening your claws and mustering up the strength, you punched the wall as hard as you could. Some plaster forced its way into your nail bed as your talons pierced the dry wall, but you bite your tongue. You've felt worse pain today.

You repeated this process with your other hand, aiming a little higher this time around and slowly began to claw your way up.

You've reached your limit by the time you got to the plat form, and to your surprise it connected to a walk way going through the wall into what you suspected was another testing room. Sitting on the walk way, wheezing for air, was your brother.

His wings were limp, his eyes were barely open, and he was covered in scratches and blood that may or may not have been his own.

"You got… krats too?" He asked.

Too exhausted to answer, you slightly nodded your head.

"Haha… they're… going easy on us." With a sigh of relief, he slips into unconsciousness. Seeing Dirk alright relieved you more than you thought it would as well, but knowing that he was safe you quickly follow him into sleep.

x

You wake up in your cage the next morning, barely being able to move. God, you're sore. The scientists cared enough to bandage your wounds while you were K-O, but you wish they would have at least thrown in a few pain killers.

You're too groggy and stiff to care much about anything right now, so you don't notice when the scientist comes in to take away the next unlucky soul of the day. In fact, you're just about to nod off again when an un-earthly growl snaps you to attention.

For a minute you lose all touch with your human self. You're nothing but instinct; your wings spring open in an attempt to let you escape, but they thrash helplessly in the confinement of your cage. For a few seconds the only thing you feel is the heart-stopping panic and icy fear of small prey, the only thing you see are flashing memories of fangs and claws of all the predators that had once hunted your ancestors, and the only thing you can think is_'run'_.

The growling stops and you immediately come back to your senses. Your heart is pounding and there's a cold sweat on your forehead. What _was _that?

The tension in the room is so thick you could cut it with a blade or even just half of a blade if you had one.

But the scientist does nothing more than shrug it off and wheel a crate out of the room. It's only then do you realize that it was Jade who was taken away.

"Was that… seriously Jade?" your brother asks. You turn to him and see that all his feathers are raised, making him look twice his size. You're the same way.

You ruffle your wings in an effort to calm your nerves. "I… think so…" you mumble.

"That was undoubtedly our beloved inmate," Rose says. "You know, for some inane reason I thought she was incapable of showing aggression until just now."

"I know, right?" says Dirk. "She took all of us off guard. Do you think she's alright?"

The question hangs in the air, but you only shrug as a response.

Hours later Jade's crate returns. You sense a festering surliness emitting from her cage. It unnerves you.

"Jade?" Dirk asks in concern. Jade fixes him with a quick, piercing glare, but says nothing. You're all at a loss for words.

It goes on like this for days. Jade refuses to talk to anyone. She growls whenever a scientist comes in, even if she's not their object of interest. The growls never fail to unsettle you.

Everyday less and less hybrids return from their testing. Miraculously, you, your brother, Jade and Rose are all still alive. You've all had a lot of close calls, some too fucking close for comfort, and you aren't sure how much longer you can all keep lucking out.

x

You guess you should have seen it coming.

Jade's behavior had been so erratic as of late you wonder why it took you by surprise when she finally snapped.

It started after she had been taken away for testing one day that was indistinguishable from any other in the god damn place.

Minutes after she left the room came the faint sounds of… barking? Yes, you all heard it, the unmistakable sound of barks and shouts and orders and snarls.

Suddenly the chaotic noise is broken by another sharp sound you are all too familiar with- the crack of a whip.

You all reflexively flinch at its echo and try to block your ears from the yelps that follow.

It cracks once, twice, three more times before the squeals that accompanied it finally die away. The storage room is more deadly silent than usual.

You hear nothing.

Minutes that feel like lifetimes pass before the scientist returns with Jade's cage.

She's pressed herself firmly against the back, putting herself out of your line of vision. She's talking fast to cover up the whimpers that escape her between each word.

"I'm not sorry! I'll never be sorry! I won't ever fight for you or do what you ask ever again and you can't make me! I'll bite you again if you come near me. I'm not afraid of you!"

"Shut the fuck up!" The scientist speaks sharply as he roughly returns the crate. "You should be fucking grateful for all we've done for you!"

"_Grateful!_" Jade's voice is shrill and filled with venom. "You want me to be grateful that you turned me into a freak and expect me to fight for you at the cost of my own life? You expect me to _thank you_for raising me to fulfill my own death sentence?"

"We took you in when no one else wanted you, bitch," The scientist spits back. "But you've caused too much trouble as of late. I'd personally take you out back behind a shed and put a bullet between your eyes if you weren't the most valuable hybrid here because only you seem to be able to tap _the omnipotence_. You should just be fucking thankful you're alive! Do you know how many experiments die just undergoing their metamorphosis? Do you know lucky you are just to have survived?"

"Sometimes I wish I hadn't!" Jade screams. The scientist kicks her cage then leaves the room in a fury.

As soon as the door shuts Jade starts speaking again.

"Guys, let's talk. I haven't spoken a single word to any of you in days. I'm real sorry about that. What should we talk about? Let's talk about anything."

You speak first.

"What the fuck happened out there?" You twist and crane your neck, but still can't catch sight of Jade in her cage. You see glimpses of her paws, pulled close together as she continues to squeeze herself in the corner.

"I bit a scientist," at this Jade start to giggle. It's a nervous giggle- one you make when you're terribly scared, but once Jade starts laughing she can't seem to stop. "Heheh, I can't believe it. I actually bit a scientist! Ha ha ha ha! It's like I'm _asking_to be shot for being a dangerous animal! HAHAHA!"

"Jade, do you honestly find this whole situation amusing?" Rose asks in concern.

"Heheheh, no," Jade sniffs. "It's just that –heh- if I don't laugh," her voice suddenly gets tight; "I think I will cry."

Too choked up to continue, the whimpers Jade tried so hard to cover up come out freely. You can tell by the sound that she's in a tremendous amount of pain, but doesn't want to show it.

"I don't want to die," she cries. "And I don't want anyone else to die… because of me. But… It's happening anyway… And I can't stop it." Her whimpers turn into squeaky growls when the scientist from before suddenly returns. Your blood runs cold when you see that he has some sort of riffle with him.

His face is stone and his eyes betray no emotion as he walks up to Jade's cell, gets down on her level, and takes aim.

You can hear the thumps of Jade's paws as she quickly paces back and forth in her confinement.

"What are you doing? Don't you dare shoot me! I'll bite you if you try!"

"Hold still," The man says as he squints one eye and pulls the trigger. A second later there's a cry from Jade.

"OW! What-? This is a dart! You tranqed me! Why, I ought to-!" but she doesn't finish her sentence as the fast-acting drugs do their work.

"Okay, she's out. We got an hour to do this, an hour and a half tops," the scientist radios in from a wall speaker.

Shortly after he hangs up three more men come in, two with a portable stainless-steel operating table, one with a hose and medical kit. They're all in scrubs.

The first scientist manually unlocks the cage and pulls the tranquilized hybrid out and onto the table.

You stare, wide eyed in horror at the lashed mess that is her back.

Fresh, open wounds, four horizontal gashes cross her back. Her shirt is torn and bloody. No wonder she kept herself pressed in the back of the cage so you couldn't see. You don't want to look, yet you can't look away.

While one scientist begins to wipe down the walls of her cage that's smudged with her blood, the other three get to work on her wounds.

Lying her face down on the table, they remove her shirt and roughly clean off her back then dab disinfectant into her injuries. A few sutures, gauze and medical bandages later, they're fitting her in a new shirt and dumping her back in her cage.

Then they leave as is the whole incident never happened.

XXX

You gradually rejoin the world of the living as the tranquilizers wear off, but you're in so much pain you decide to extend your stay in dreamland and sink back into sleep.

The next time you wake up it's the middle of the night. Your back feels like it's been crucified to the cross and you're unbearably queasy.

Your mind's still a bit hazy, but if one thing is clear to you from your drug induced coma, it's that you know you can't keep living like this. You need to do something.

But where to start?

You know you can't just attack another experimenter anytime soon. You'll probably be held in quarantine or some shit for a while to make sure you didn't give your victim omnipotent rabies.

Besides, where would biting your captors get you anyway? Nowhere, that's what. Except maybe out behind a wood shed if you just become too unpredictable.

No, this wasn't a matter of fighting to get _back_ at them. You needed to fight to get _away_from them; free of their steel walls and tests.

You need to get _out_.

But how?

Your eyes scan the room in futility. They're drawn to the control panel near the door that can manually lock, unlock and move your cages. Even though it's not active some lights are still blinking on it.

Your eyes settle on a little flashing green one. That gives you an idea.

Ignoring your aching back, you struggle to your hands and knees, take a deep breath, and begin to concentrate.

You're going to force yourself to tap _the omnipotence_.


	8. Act One, Scene Six

The sound of crackling electricity wakes you up.

It's the middle of the night and this disorients you, but you quickly recover and have a look around. All the other hybrids are asleep, including Rose and, to your surprise, Dave, but your ears are picking up the sound of ragged breathing from below.

There's a sharp inhale… then quiet.

Just when you begin to think you're imagining things, you hear sparks and are temporarily blinded by a flash of bright green light. You blink several times and rub your eyes. Looking around you catch a faint glow coming from Jade's cage below you. A slight buzzing reaches your ears.

"Jade?" you ask tentatively. The glow vanishes. A second later Jade's face appears.

"Oh, did I wake you up? I'm sorry, Dirk," She whispers.

"Was that you? What are you doing?"

"Nothing. Go back to sleep."

"But I saw this green light and heard this noise… Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes," her voice sounds worn out, like she just ran a marathon. "Don't worry. Everything's fine."

You're doubtful of her statement and decide to wait it out. You shift a little to get comfortable then go mute as you strain your ears.

Jade must be waiting you out too because nothing happens. You're not sure whose will is stronger, and begin to nod off again, but force yourself to hang in there. It doesn't work for long.

Your body decides it's time to rest again and you're forced to comply. The last thing you see before re-entering sleep is a dim, glowing green light, but you won't remember it the next time you wake.

XXX

Practice. "Practice makes perfect," they always say, and that's exactly what you were doing. It's what you've been doing since you woke from the tranquilizers; it was what you were doing when Dirk caught you in the middle of the night. It was what you continued doing after you were ninety-five percent sure he had fallen back asleep. It's what you did until the first signs of dawn poked their way into the room all the way up until the laboratory became active for the day.

Only when the lights flick on and the machines come to life do you finally stop to rest. Your back stings, you're short of breath, and you're coated in sweat. You don't even bother to growl when the first scientist comes in.

You can see the concern in the scientist's eyes when he inspects you, and you don't resist when he checks your temperature and lungs. The next thing you know, you're sedated. Dave would later tell you that they changed your bandages and gave you antibiotics while you were out.

It would seem you're suspicions about you being quarantined proved true, for you weren't taken out for testing the next ten days. But you did not let those days go to waste. Every second the experimenters faced the other way you practiced tapping into _the omnipotence._

It was difficult at first. You had no idea how to reach it. First you tired visioning it; that massive green light that radiated power, but nothing happened. When that didn't work, you tried focusing your emotions. All your frustration, all your rage, all your anger, hate, fear and desperation. Nothing happened. You channeled all these feelings together and forced your senses to extend beyond your realm of existence. Nothing happened. You strained your mind to reach out and grasp that power you so terribly needed, but still nothing happened.

You keep this up for hours on end with no results, and just when you begin to think all your efforts are futile- it finally happens.

The surge of energy that hits you is so strong, you feel as if your heart is going to burst. Your eyes roll back, your muscles lock. You can't see, you can't think. The only thing that exists is the color green.

Terror slowly seeps into what's left of your mind. Your body is stuck in a limbo, lost between your physical plane and where ever the power source of _the omnipotence_ existed.

You can't breathe.

With your last shred of consciousness you tear yourself away from that awesome power, back into reality. You notice that some of your fur is smoldering as you gasp for breath.

After a while you manage to pull one thought from the slurry of what's left of your brain;

'_I did it,'_ you think as your vision goes fuzzy, _'I found_ the omnipotence.'

x

Ever since that moment it became easier for you to reach _the omnipotence_. For your ten day quarantine you simply practiced tapping into it, growing stronger and learning to hold your own against its massive power.

No longer did it completely sap you of your own strength and leave you close to passing out. You learned that to tap _the omnipotence_, you had to give some of your energy in order to receive some in exchange. You practiced controlling this flow, learning how much to give and take without wearing yourself too thin.

Still, you had no idea how to teleport yourself or other objects around like you had done in your test. It was one thing to obtain the power needed, but utilizing it was something entirely different.

First you tried practicing on the water bowl that was in your cell, attempting to shift its position to the other side of your cage. It was aggravating in the beginning, connecting to _the omnipotence_ while simultaneously focusing on the bowl. It was a whole new challenge; splitting your attention while maintaining control.

Once you felt _the omnipotence's_ presence you honed in on the bowl and sent it to the energy source. You're taken by surprise how much that action alone taxes your body.

You immediately disconnect, breathing hard. '_Tapping into_ the omnipotence _takes energy, but using it must take even more…_' you conclude.

It takes you a moment to realize the bowl is gone. Your eyes sweep over your small confinement, but it's not there. You lost it.

"Oh, no," you say to yourself. "If the scientists discover it's missing they're going to realize something's up."

You close your eyes and focus, searching with _the omnipotence_, but no luck. The bowl was wiped out of existence.

"Shit! Okay, don't panic. Just… just try summoning a different bowl!"

You scan what little you can see of the cages around you and manage to find one above you. Concentrating on the slim bit you can see of it, you will the bowl into your cage.

Instantly if feels as if your blood has been turned into lead and you let out an exasperated breath, Above you a surprised hybrid lets out a confused chitter at the sudden disappearance of its bowl, but you're too winded to care.

A smile spreads across your face as you wipe the sweat from your brow. You're finally starting to get the hang of this. Just keep it up and you'll be out of here in no time.


	9. Act One, Scene Seven

How long had it been? Since you first teleported that bowl… since you first tapped _the omnipotence_… since you first became mutated…

Time passed without meaning in the laboratory. There were only two ways to measure its progression; the periods of dark which offered solace and peace, and the periods of light which only brought anxiety and pain. Sure, you could count the days if you kept track of these cycles, but the record of time passed was only as reliable as your memory, and when every day is as monotonous as the last they tended to blur into an indistinguishable haze. So you weren't sure how long it took you before you finally estimated you were well practiced with _the omnipotence_.

You found you no longer needed to sleep at night. The last time you had, you suffered a night terror, but instead of waking up screaming you woke up snarling and sparking with green electricity. You were barely fast enough to regain control of yourself before Dave saw, and after that you decided not to risk exposing yourself again. But you suffered no ill side effects of sleep loss. With _the omnipotence_ at your disposal, you found you could dip into it any time and instantly feel recharged and well rested. It was such a better alternative than nightmares.

Even though you now had the power of _the omnipotence_ at your command, you held off making your escape. Deep down you knew it still wasn't time. Some little voice- an instinct, an intuition, told you the conditions weren't right and that you must remain waiting. You obeyed, but you weren't sure how long your patience would last.

In the meantime tests were still run, hybrids continued to die, and you continued to resist against the experimenters. Your relationship with them was icy and tense. Every time you came in contact, it was like treading a minefield filled with broken glass. As the number of test subjects continued to dwindle, you desperately hoped your chance for freedom came soon.

x

You finally got that chance one stormy night.

You were lying awake in your cage, blankly staring into space. It was raining outside, but you were hardly aware of it.

How many nights had you lay awake, absently staring at the far wall like you were currently doing? You had no clue. Since you stopped sleeping you stopped having nightmares, and since you stopped having nightmares, Dave no longer needed to console you. You can't remember the last time you spoke a word to him or any of your friends.

A streak of lightning flares passed the narrow window outside, followed by its thunder. Your ear instinctively turns to it. A few seconds later another bolt strikes somewhere alarmingly close for the time between the light and noise are almost indistinguishable.

You raise your head and stare at the window, watching the rain fall past the glass. Something is awakening inside you. There's another flash of lightning. You start to growl.

It's time.

Zeroing in your attention, you focus on yourself. You reach out to _the omnipotence_, find it, then take a calming breath. This will be the first time you'll be trying to willingly teleport yourself.

You concentrate on the space just outside your cage. Then, surrendering yourself to that awesome power, you tell yourself to go there.

For a brief instant there's only green. The next thing you know you feel tile beneath your pads instead of stainless steel.

The thrill you feel is almost overwhelming. You stand up on two feet but are quickly overcome with dizziness. The nausea that comes with it tells you you're not going to attempt using _the omnipotence_ again anytime soon, and you doubt tapping it now will recharge you this time.

"Jade?" You hear Dave's baffled voice say. He's looking down at you in astonishment. "What did you- How did you-"

"It's time," you reply cryptically.

Tentatively you begin to walk around and explore the room. It's such a strange sensation being able to stand up and walk freely, being able to extend your arms and not hit wall, being able to move unconstrained from something other than mazes.

You meander to the thin window and gaze out, and for the first time in your life you see the outside world other than the thin bit of sky you could only glimpse. Lightning flares, illuminating a dense forest of trees surrounding the lab. Deep inside you something stirs. Soon you were going to be in that forest.

You step away from the window and look up at the cages on the ceiling. Dave and Dirk are too high up for you to reach. You wouldn't know how to open their cages even if you could. You head over to the wall of cages. Rose is too high as well.

Other hybrid experiments begin to wake as you wonder around. They start to chatter and their noise begins to rouse even more. Soon the whole room knows you're out of your cage and they're making a racket about it.

"Quiet," you growl and spark for good measure. The clamor instantly drops, but begins again in hushed tones as you attempt to open some of the cages you can reach.

It's no use. All the cages are electronically locked and can't be opened by paws alone.

"Jade. The control panel," Rose whispers to you. "It has a manual lock."

You head over to it and examine all the buttons and switches. You swallow out of nervousness, unsure which one to push. What if you hit a button and set off an alarm?

"Jade, I had an aerial view the last time they used the manual lock," Dave tells you. "It has to be the buttons on the right."

You narrow down your attention to only the buttons on the right, but it does little to help. You don't understand any of the words or symbols that label the buttons. God, you wish you knew how to read.

"In equipment as advanced as this there should be an emergency mechanism to release all the cages in case something was to go wrong," Rose says from behind you. "Look for an emergency release!"

"I don't know what that is!" You bark in frustration.

"If this machine is like all the others, it should be bigger than all the others and a different color, like red. And, if we could read, it'd probably say 'emergency' on it!" Dirk says this time. Thunder punctuates his words. "Jade! Find that master 'unlock all' button!"

The pressure of expectation rises as your paw drifts across the panel. You can't afford to waste time make a mistake with this. Finally your paw settles on the biggest button on the right. Here goes everything.

You firmly push the button down.

Nothing happens.

Just when you start to believe it didn't work, there's a click, then another. Then another, and another, and another as each column of cages unlock and swing open.

Dave doesn't hesitate to break free once his cage unlocks. As soon as it clicks he swings the door up and takes a flying leap. His wings snap open and he braces for impact as the ground rushes to meet him.

He lands hard but unhurt. His eyes are blazing as he pulls himself upright. You're too mute from your nerves to speak, so you only smile. Woah. You never realized how tall he actually was.

Dirk and Rose are quick to follow Dave's example, each wasting no time to taste freedom. You're speechless with joy, finally being able to see them all eye to eye, but despite being tongue-tied, your tail is wagging furiously.

You turn to the wall of cages. No one else has dared to move.

"Well?" You ask the other hybrids. "Are you coming?" Bodies shuffle and eyes shyly look away.

"Oh, man. You can't be serious," says Dirk when he realizes the other hybrids are too scared to leave their cells. "Have the scientists broken you so bad that you're too afraid to even leave this prison? Do you really prefer staying here where you know only torture awaits you?"

"Well, do you know what lies beyond those doors?" A hybrid asks in a scratchy voice. "How can you be sure what waits for you out there isn't worse than what we've already been through?"

"I'll admit we do not know what it is like on the other side of these walls," Rose says. "But we're willing to believe whatever's out there is better than our fate in here."

"It could always be worse," says the hybrid. "Yes, we know it's not pleasant here, but we _do_ know what torture to expect. The outside world could be better, but it could always be worse. You have no way of knowing, so why risk venturing into something that could possibly cause you more pain?"

"Man, fuck this," Dave spits. "If these miserable excuses for life are so afraid of the unknown that they'd prefer sticking to the pain they know in fear of something worse out there, then maybe they deserve to stay here. We don't have time to be messing around."

You follow Dave as he heads to the door then look back.

"We'll leave the cages unlocked."

"I hope you don't live to regret your decisions," A hybrid tells you.

"Same," you reply.

"Jade, let's go!" Dave calls to you. With one last glance behind you, you follow your friends out the door.

x

It's silent. Dead silent. You can hear the faint rumble of thunder vibrate through the walls as you wonder the dark corridors, looking for a way to the outside. Dim lights flicker then die. The power's been blown out.

"There's got to be an emergency exit somewhere around here," Dirk mutters.

"Hey, I know," Dave speaks up. "Why not let Jade teleport us through the walls?" Is it just you or does his voice sound slightly accusing?

"I can't," You tell him, shaking your head. "I'm still exhausted just from teleporting myself. If I tried moving things as big as us I could end up vaporizing you."

"Just how long have you been able to do this?" he asks.

"I've been practicing. Moving small things mostly. I never tried teleporting myself before today. It's very tiring." The look from Dave's eyes tells you that he doesn't entirely believe you. You take the lead so you don't have to meet them.

The longer the four of you wonder through the labyrinth of corridors, the more uneasy you get. You can sense that your window of opportunity for freedom is shrinking.

You need to get out.

And fast.

Every door you try is locked. Every turn you take leads to a dead end. Every additional second you stay encased in those walls increases your panic.

"Jade, slow down!" Dirk yells at you. "We can't keep up!" You hadn't even realized you started running.

"Sorry," you pant. "But we need to get out _now_. There's not much time left!"

"So much for being exhausted," Dave says a bit breathless.

"Cut it out, Dave," Rose scolds him then turns to you. "Why Jade? What happens if we take too much time?"

"I… I don't know. But we need to get out under the cover of the storm. If we take too much time it will pass and we may never get out!" You start running again, pounding each door in a frenzy. Locked, locked, locked, locked!

'_Hurry! Hurry!'_ Something cries in your mind. _'Get out! Get out NOW!_'

Is it just you or are the walls closing in? They're shrinking all around you, trapping you in here forever. The air is choking. You can't move. You can't breathe.

'_Get out NOW!'_ Wildly you sprint down the hall. Your friends are shouting at you again, but you can barely hear them.

There's a door dead ahead of you. You throw yourself at it with all your might.

The next thing you know, you're falling face first into the mud and rain.

Out.

You're outside.

Getting back up on two feet you take in this new, alien world. So this is what it's like to be outside. Dave, Rose and dirk are quick to catch up. They're just as awed as you.

You take a few hesitant steps. You're out, but something still doesn't feel right. You build up speed and take a few more paces. You're forced to a halt when you walk smack dab into an invisible wall.

You reel back, stunned. Carefully, you raise a paw and reach in front of you. You touch something solid. Upon closer inspection you can see thin green rings radiating from where you made contact with the unseen force field.

"The shield…" says Rose. "I remember now. The scientist mentioned this the day Jade first preformed _the omnipotence_."

"Shields were used to keep Lusii out, but also trap people in," Dirk notes. "We should've known they'd have one as an extra measure to keep _us_ in."

"No… No!" You cry. "We need to get out! We're so close!" You drop down on your paws and knees and begin to dig. The shield doesn't have a bottom and your claws persistently scratch against it as you move the earth. Dirk, Dave and Rose soon join in, but you're getting nowhere fast.

Furious at being so close to freedom, you close your eyes and focus. As tired as you are, you zero in on the wall and summon _the omnipotence_.

"Get back!" you snarl. Your friends are just fast enough to jump out of the way before you shoot a green bolt of lightning at the wall. You collapse, completely sapped of your strength. Through blurry eyes you watch as the shield waivers as it absorbed the blast then regains its composure.

The hazy shapes of your friends surround you with worry as you try to right yourself. You can't.

Strong arms are there to help, supporting your limp body.

"No… stand back… I have… to try again," you protest weakly.

"Jade, take it easy," Dirk says in your ear. "That one try almost made you faint."

"But we need to get out…" you repeat like a broken record. "We're so close…"

"I don't believe attacking the shield is the right way to go about it," Rose says. "This shield has to be generated by something… If we can find and take out what's supplying it's power then the shield should come down."

Fanning out, the four of you begin looking for the source from which the shield emitted from.

You find a black metal box behind the laboratory on the edge of the woods. Intuition tells you this is what you're looking for, but there's a problem…

"Guys!" You shout through the pouring rain. "Over here!" Dirk, Rose and Dave are by your side in seconds. "I think I found it," You tell them.

There was no doubt about it. This box was the source. The power radiating from it was so strong that it hummed and the wall was actually visible here, a pale shade of translucent green. If you managed to destroy it, you'd be scott free… if it wasn't for one thing-

"Fuck! It's on the other size of the shield!" Dave screams, and repeatedly punches the wall with all his strength. "We can't get at it from here! We'll never get out!"

Greif, misery, anguish and hopelessness begin to overwhelm you in a torrent of despair. You were _so close_. You were almost finally free…

No. You weren't going to let it end like this. Reining in your emotions, you channel them together and convert them into power. It wasn't going to be easy, making another bolt of energy. You were already exasperated, but you needed to try…

Green electricity begins to crackle and dance across your skin and fur as you concentrate. Above you, clouds swirl and darken.

Dave catches sight of you and opens his mouth to speak, but gets cut off by a tremendous clap of thunder. Looking up, his scarlet eyes go wide with shock. Churning above you, drawn in by your power and sparking with its own, is a massively condensed thunder cloud ready to strike.

But you aren't aware of any of this. All your attention is focused on building up enough energy in preparation to attack. You have no idea how much your attracting the storm like a lightning rod.

"Run!" Dave screeches a heartbeat before you almost release all you've got at the shield.

Everything happens so fast you can barely comprehend it. You see Rose and Dirk dive to the sides, Dave barrels into you, a massive bolt of lightning strikes directly in front of you, not even a yard away, and you're temporarily blinded and deafened.

Slowly the world comes back into focus. Your ears are ringing but your vision is beginning to clear. There's the sharp smell of ozone in the air. There's also something heavy pressed on top of you, pinning you down.

It's Dave, wings spread over you like a tent. His face is stern, but his feathers are ruffled and fluffed up from fear. He's so scared you can even smell his fright under his cool disposition.

He steps off you and you both look to where the lightning hit. A shallow circular crater about three feet wide and a foot deep is all that's left behind. The black power box has been blown to smitherines.

You get up and stagger, paws out in front of you to where the wall once was. There's nothing there.

An indescribable feeling of liberation floods through you. It's so strong you're left speechless and you begin to cry tears of relief.

It's over. The nightmare is finally over. You're _free_.

The realization slowly sinks into everyone. Dirk and Dave are grinning wide. They turn to each other; grab each other's forearms as if in a mock fight, then spin in triumph. They're each flapping their wings so hard that they momentarily hover a few inches off the ground. Rose saunters over to the nearest tree and waste no time releasing all the stress she's accumulated over the years by sharpening her claws on the rough bark.

As for you, you close your eyes, tip your head back in the rain and let the cold water cleanse you of the horrors you've had to endure. After what feels like an eternity, you open your eyes again and turn to your friends. They're all cold and soaked to the bone, but smiling none the less.

"Come on," You smile back. "we don't belong here anymore!"

Turning to the forest, you break into a weary trot. You don't care how tired you are; you're on a runner's high fueled by the joy of your deliverance. Soon the trees close around you as you race through the foliage and away from that god awful place.

Foot prints and memories are the only evidence you left behind to prove that you were ever there. The rain is quick to wash them both away.


	10. Act Two, Scene One

There's more to the Bioengineered Experiments and Testing Accommodations laboratory than meets the eye. To the public it was their generic testing center responsible for the many resources they used and needed day to day. To BETA's inhabitants it was a place of pain and prison center.

But still, these two views were still only on the surface of BETA. People often forget to consider what lies below it foundations, for underneath the BETA laboratory is a mad house of deadly creatures and twisted creations thought only to be found in nightmares. Below the surface is a hell hole of demons, a trench of fiendish beings, a pit of sadistic souls.

And you, Draconic Hybrid Experiment 1025, are one of them.

Mashing your face against the bars of your cage, you inhale deeply, taking in the numerous odors with your super human nose.

"__. Can you smell that, Vriska?" You ask the occupant of the cage next to you as you breathe in. "Tell me you smell it. Tell me you smell all this delectable mayhem!"

"Sadly, Terezi, I can't," A smooth voice from a cage marked Arachnid Hybrid Experiment 888; Survivor: Imperfect, replies. "I lack the keen reptilian sense of smell you have. But I _can _hear it. Some serious shit must have gone down up there."

"What do you think happened this time? Do you think the dog girl bit someone again?"

"Man, who the fuck even cares," Vriska spits. "We never get to be a part of the action, so screw those guys and whatever shit they managed to get themselves into this time."

You pull your face away from the bars and flash your cage mate a brilliant smile full of your deadly sharp draconic teeth. "Heh, heh. You wouldn't be saying that if they let us fight the weaker experiments again."

Vriska can't help but smile. "Yeah, now _that_ was fun. I still can't get over the looks of terror on their faces," she chuckles and gives a little sigh. "Too bad half the time I scared them so much they didn't even attempt to fight back. They were too easy to take down. It's like… It's like they couldn't even _bring_ themselves to fight me."

"They were hybridized with animals that were too tame, that's the problem. Their "morals" probably told them that it was wrong having to fight other hybrids. You know, someone like themselves."

"We are _not_ like them." Vriska says sternly. "We are smarter, stronger, deadlier-"

"Don't forget uglier," Vriska stiffens at your interjection. "Oh, what do _you_ know? You can't see."

"No, but I can smell your insecurity under that insect exoskeleton of yours all the way down to your barbed scorpion butt!" You start to cackle. Vriska, not one to take insults lightly or have herself considered weak, raises her tail and strikes at you through the bars of her cage. She can't reach you. The cages are too far apart.

You stare blindly in her general direction, with teeth beaming wide. You love making her frustrated. After a while Vriska gives up on trying to jab you with her stinger and you go back to sniffing the air. Wait… your nose tells you that the scents are on the move. They're… they're coming down here.

A heavy door squeals as its hinges grind together and the dungeon you're in becomes bathed in light. Your senses tell you that there are four bodies in front of you.

Despite being blind, you've never had a problem "seeing". Not only did your senses of hearing and smell develop par to make up for your handicap, but the reptilian in your DNA gave you another sense; the sense to see heat. Your inner eye could detect silhouettes and heat sources in an array of colors and with acute sharpness, making your offensive strikes deadly and precise.

"Well, well, well," Vriska hisses. "It's not every day we get visitors."

"There has been… a situation," one scientist says. "The director is in need of assistance by someone with your… unique… talents to help us resolve it. Today your abilities will be put to use."

"You can't be serious," you say. You don't trust their words. Something smells off. "No more fake battles? No more mock trials? Are you finally going to send us out into the real world?"

"Yes. We will take you to both have an audience with the director. I recommend you both behave yourselves. We've already had more than enough mishaps for one day."

Your crates are loaded onto a dolly and wheeled out of the darkness. You didn't think it was possible, but you're smiling wider than you've ever thought capable. At last, you were finally going to have a chance to do what you were created to do- no, what you were _born_ to do; hunt and kill any creature that you dared to make your prey.

You're growling with excitement on the elevator ride up to the surface. The scent of discord is so heavy here you can barely control yourself from throwing your body at the bars of your cage, mad with the desire to be a part of the chaos.

_Bing_

The elevator stops and you're wheeled out. There's a room at the end of the hall filled with hot, tense smelling bodies surrounding a table. You're not surprised when it turns out that's your destination.

The room falls silent and you can feel the stares of the scientists boring into your scaly skin. One human, the director you assume, stands up and confronts you. He's wearing overly powerful cologne that smells like… Vanilla?

"Ah, welcome experiments eight eighty-eight and ten twenty-five. Allow me to-"

Hold it," Vriska cuts in. "Before we start talking I have one request or I won't be doing shit for you."

The vanilla-scented man gives Vriska an unimpressed look. Or, at least you think he does. He smells unimpressed anyway.

"And what would that request be, madam?"

"Let us out of these god damned cages. I'm not gonna sit down here and have you give me orders like the condescending asshole you think you are."

"Eight eighty-eight, I assure you, the cages are simply safety measures."

"Whaaaat? Don't you truuuusssst uuuussss?" The scorpion hybrid smirks while waving her barbed tail.

"They are safety measures for _everyone_ including yourself."

"As if you threaten me. Let us out or we refuse to do anything you say."

The director sighs. You can sense him wave his hand in a 'go-ahead' gesture to allow the cages to be opened. You push your way out and stretch your dragon wings to full length the second the lock on your cage clicks open. You turn to the vanilla-scented man and begin to speak.

"So, mister director-"

"Please, call me Doctor Scratch," he interrupts you. "We're all friends here."

"Okay, _Doc,_" you sneer. "I'd been told I'd finally get to sink my fangs into Lusii with no restraints. So when do I start?"

"Patience," Scratch raises his hand, indicating a pause. "We have much to discuss. Let's take a seat, shall we?"

You all move to the table. The director and four scientists sit at one end while you and Vriska sit at the other. Suddenly your nose picks up the smell of something sweet, something… chocolaty? You begin to grope the surface of the table in an effort to find the source.

"As you were briefly informed, there's been… an incident," Scratch starts. Your hand brushes up against something cold and hard. It's a bowl of some sort of candy. "To make a long story short, four hybrid experiments managed to escape the facility last night under the cover of the storm and now we need someone with your skills to track them down and return them to us." Taking one in your paw, you give it a lick. They're… chocolate covered cherries?

"Why us?" Vriska asks with her arms crossed. "Are you _brilliant_ scientists not cleaver enough to find them yourself?" You give the sweet an experimental bite and-

OH.

**MY.**

_**GOD.**_

These are the best things _EVER_.

"All traces of them were lost in the storm," Scratch explains as you grab the bowl and begin to snarf the treats down. "It's true we _could_ send out some higher tech searching devices but they would draw too much attention and wouldn't maneuver through the foliage easily. Our records show that the two of you have the highest performance scores of stealth, efficiency and teamwork, so logically you two would be the prime candidates for hunting down our AWOL friends without too much notice."

"Sssooooo," Vriska leans forward in her seat and puts her head in her spider like hands while you lick the bowl clean. "You want us to find these rogues and bring them back before someone else realizes you screwed up?" She gibes.

"In a sense," Doctor Scratch says nonchalantly.

"You stated you want us to return them here," You say, wiping the chocolate from your lips with the back of your hand. "I assume that means you want them back alive?"

"Preferably," the director says and your heart sinks. "But," your ears instantly perk back up. "If they show resistance, you may respond with force. Of the four experiments on the loose, there is one you must bring back unharmed." You both stare at him in interest. "Hybrid experiment four-thirteen, a candid hybrid and our only perfected subject, needs to be returned to us free of damage at all cost. She's too valuable to lose."

"Whoa, whoa, wait," Vriska breaks in. "You mean the dog girl? The one who bit one of you? She's been perfected? That would mean she knows how to use _the omnipotence_."

"Precisely."

"So don't hurt the bitch but the other three are fair game?" you clarify.

"_If _they show resistance you are allowed to use force. We'd _like_ to have all four returned to us alive and intact, but if it can't be helped then so be it."

"Looks like I might get to have some fun after all," you smile.

"Hold it, Terezi," Vriska stops you. "What makes you think we're just gonna agree to do all this for you? What are _we_ getting out of it?"

"Think of it as your first legitimate mission out in the field. Your performance here could determine if you're ready to take on the real thing. If you can subdue one omniscient target, we might start sending you out more often into the untamed lands of Alternia and let you have free reign on the fauna there."

"Hmm, I like where this is going," Vriska hums. "Okay, Scratch, when to we leave?"

"Well, before we let you go, you'll need a few things," Doctor Scratch says while waving his hand for a scientist to bring forward a box of items. "The first of these things is new attire." He pulls out some uniforms that smell old and musty to you.

"These clothes will keep you protected from the elements as well as camouflaged in the underbrush. The compartments are also filled with basic supplies to aid you for a few days. We'd give you more, but don't want to encumber you. When you run out, you'll have to rely on your resourcefulness." The clothes are set on the table as the director returns to the box. The next thing he pulls out is some kind of giant gun-shaped cylinder.

"This is an anti-omniscient net launcher. Any creature caught in it will be prevented from using the omnipotence much like the shields around the city do. It's only a prototype and doesn't take well to water. Be careful with it."

"Sweet," Vriska says as she pulls the gear towards her.

"Hold on, there's one last thing," Scratch says. He reaches into the box and pulls out… two metal circles? Your nose detects a metallic scent while your heat vision picks up two cold rings dangling from the index finger on each of his hands.

"NO!" You jump when Vriska slams her hands on the table. "You had a good deal going on, Scratch, but I refuse to war a collar! I'm not an animal!"

"I beg to differ, miss eight eighty-eight," Scratch chimes. "According to the fifty-one percent law, you are. Besides, there's more to this collar than meets the eye. It's also a three way radio system. See these two buttons? The top one allows you to radio us and vice versa, whiles the bottom one allows you to radio each other."

"I bet there's a GPS tracking unit in there as well, isn't there?"

"That would be correct," Scratch tells her. "But let me assure you it's all for your safety."

"My safety, ssuurree," under her breath Vriska whispers something quietly enough so only you could hear. "He probably doesn't want to risk losing more of his precious lab rats, the jackass."

"Come on, Vriska, it won't be that bad," You say as a scientist clips your collar on. "Don't you think a little freedom is worth dealing with some stupid collar? You won't even know it's there. I bet if we do a good enough job here, we won't even need collars we go out to the rest of Alternia."

Vriska is silent for a moment. She eventually sighs and allows for the collar to be placed around her too.

"Until the AWOL experiments are brought back into our custody they are a danger to themselves and everyone around them. Likewise, everyone will be a danger to them and you. People don't like things that aren't like themselves and we want to do all that we can to prevent them from hurting _any_ of you." The irony of Scratch's statement is so thick you can't even scoff at it.

The director pulls out four plastic bags and slides them across the table. "These are the fur, hair and feather samples collected from our escapist friends. You may keep them. And one last thing," Doctor Scratch says as you strip off your white uniforms and begin to gear up. "We will give you one month of free reign. If you fail to bring back the hybrid experiments within thirty-one days, you are required to return and we will send out someone else more capable,"

"Jesus Christ," you whine. "If you just shut your trap and let us go already we may have enough time to get them back before sunset."

"Very well," Scratch smiles. "That's all I have to say. These men will kindly escort you to the exit, and then you will be free to do as you wish."

With that, you are dismissed. The doors are opened for you and you are freely led out of the building. For the first time in your life you get a taste of the outdoors.

You try and fail to contain your exhilaration.

"This is amazing!" you shout. "Oh my God, I've never felt something as wonderful as this before!"

"Cool it, Terezi," Vriska warns you. "We'll have plenty of time for wreaking havoc in the great outdoors after we catch the rogues. Right now we have a job to do," The scorpion hybrid pulls out one of the plastic bags containing the fur samples for you to track with. She opens it and studies the white hairs with her eight sharp eyes. You pick up the strong scent of dog and match it to a trace on the wind.

"I've got the scent," you inform your partner and begin to head off in the direction of your quarry. "Let's go bring some convicts to justice!"


	11. Act Two, Scene Two

Your name is Jade and you and your friends have been walking through the forest for quite some time now. You have been on the move ever since the shield surrounding the laboratory was blown up and have not yet dared to rest. You're tired, your friends are tired, but you keep marching on.

Dave and Dirk walk behind you while Rose brings up the rear. You're all silent as you take in all there is to see. The trees in this forest are so strange; bright blue trunks with pink leaves. Or are all trees these colors? You wouldn't know.

You cast a glance back on your friends. Rose walks with her head and tail high and confident. Dirk and Dave walk with their wings outstretched. It probably feels good to actually be able to spread them after being confined for most of their lives.

You begin to wonder why they follow you. Ever turn you make, they copy. Every pace you set, they match. For the first few hours you hadn't even realized you were the leader, but now it seems like you were silently and unanimously chosen to guide them.

But you're not too entirely sure you're capable of the responsibility of leading your friends. There's one unspoken question that's on everyone's mind, one you can't deny and one that couldn't be avoided; what do you do now? You need to make a plan of action, that much is sure, but you have no idea where to start.

Your stomach decides for you. You practically startle yourself when it growls and you give your friends and apologetic smile.

"Sorry, it's been a while since I last ate," you explain.

"It's been a while for all of us," Dirk adds to ease the awkwardness. "Now that we're on our own though, how _are_ we going to get food?"

"I guess we could hunt and kill the forest animals," Dave suggests.

"That would seem like the logical course of action, wouldn't it?" says Rose. "But I'm afraid that option won't be possible."

"Why not?" asks Dave.

"Haven't you noticed?" Rose inquires.

"Noticed what?" Dave responds, becoming frustrated at her allusive statements.

"The silence," Rose drops her voice to a whisper. "I don't know how keen avian or canine ears are, but surely you've noticed the lack of bird calls or scurrying of critters. There's no life in this forest. I can't hear a single thing. Not even insects."

You all stop and listen for a moment. Rose is right. There is no sound what so ever. Not even a wisp of wind rustling the leaves.

"But… how is that even possible?" Dirk speaks up. He kneels down and begins to dig at the earth. "Dirt is supposed to be filled with bugs and insect life. I'll show you."

The white winged avian scoops up a large mound of soil between his palms and slowly lets it fall through his talons. Not a single life form is found in his hands.

"But… How…"

"Humans," you cut in. "All animal life on Alternia are Lusii, remember? But because humans and Lusii don't get along, humans had to force _all_ living things out of the land they claimed so they would be safe from them. Even something as small as the insects. That's why there's no life here."

"Then I guess the only way to find food is to scavenge for nuts, roots, and berries," Dave says.

"We could, but we don't know if the flora here is safe to ingest," Rose points out. "I know you may not approve of this suggestion, but I propose that we seek out civilization. Where there are people, there must be food. It's our safest bet."

Dirk and Dave give Rose disapproving glances before turning to you. It takes you a moment for you to realize their waiting for your jurisdiction.

"Oh, well, Rose's idea does seem like the most reasonable choice of the few we have." You can tell Dirk and Dave are displeased with this decision. "Listen; let's just follow this plan for now. If something better comes along, we'll switch tactics, okay?" The begrudgingly agree and you continue on your way. You hope you know what you're doing as you retake the lead.

"So how are we supposed to find civilization?" Dave asks after you walk on for a while.

"Where there are people there will be activity, and where there is activity there will be noise," Rose explains. "So we just have to listen and follow our ears."

Everyone strains their ears, searching for the faintest sound. You hear nothing.

"We must be too far away to pick up any noise," You try to encourage. "Let's keep walking."

You walk on in silence, everyone focusing for the faintest noise. After an hour or so of no progress, Dave speaks up again.

"How do we even know we're going the right way? For all we know we could be heading _away_ from any sign of other people."

He had a good point.

"Um, well," you falter, not knowing how to respond.

"I know!" Dirk speaks up. "If we can manage to get up high, we may be able to see evidence of humans." Immediately turning to the nearest tree, Dirk grips the blue bark of the trunk and begins to climb. You tensely watch from the ground as he scales higher and higher. Even the lowest branches are quite a ways up and you mentally will him not to fall.

As soon as he hits the branches his ascension improves. He jumps nimbly from limb to limb, flapping his wings for an extra boost. Soon he is nothing but a small white speck in the air.

"Do you see anything?" Dave shouts up to his brother. There's a pause then a fain reply.

"I think I see smoke!" Dirk shouts back down. "It's coming from the south east direction. It's barely visible, but definitely there!" Dirk begins to descend, awkwardly feeling his way back down.

"Careful!" You instinctively say. It looks as if all is going well at first. Dirk comes down slow, but steady. It's only when he clears the last branch does he slip.

The three of you on the ground gasp in horror as he free falls. But then Dirk surprises you all by flipping himself over and spreading his wings. He begins to flap madly and successfully manages to slow his descent. He still hits the ground hard and flat on his stomach at the base of the tree. All three of you rush to him.

"Bro, you okay?" Dave asks franticly.

Dirk sharply inhales. "Just got… the wind knocked out of me. That's all," he wheezes.

"Do you hurt anywhere," you ask sternly. "Does anything feel broken or out of place?"

"I'm fine," The white winged hybrid insists as he picks himself up and brushes himself off. "But, damn. That felt incredible. I got to do it again."

"No," you order. "I don't want you risking injury. Besides, this isn't the time. Don't you want to find people so we can find food?"

"You don't understand, Jade," Dirk looks at you with pleading eyes. "For a minute there it almost felt like I was legitimately flying."

"Listen, we'll compromise. Since you saw the smoke, you point us in the direction we need to go. If you need to check our course, you can climb the trees again," Dirk readily agrees. "But _sparingly_. We can't be checking the direction every five minutes, okay?"

Dirk nods. You let him take the lead and sigh heavily. Finally. It's a relief to not be in charge of the fate of your friends. At least for now.


	12. Act Two, Scene Three

You name is Vriska and you are currently hiking through some god damned forest, looking for some god damned experiments with your god damned partner.

Just look at that little fucker. The sightless bitch is hopping from tree to tree like a god damn earth monkey. You knew lizards were good at climbing and sticking to vertical surfaces, but you wish she wasn't such a fucking show off.

You hate all of this.

You hate how hot the air is. You hate how uncomfortable your new clothes are. You hate how long you've been walking. You hate how you're being guided by the blind one. But most of all you hate

This

God

Damn

COLLAR.

Ever since you started walking you've been picking at it, scratching your neck, running your fingers between the metal and your throat, hoping to widen the gap. It's choking and pinching and downright aggravating! God, you wish you never agreed to wear it!

Could it get any worse? Oh wait, of course it could! You almost forgot that there's a GPS unit sealed inside, tracking your every movement and keeping you tied to BETA laboratories like and invisible leash. Man, you can't believe how free you feel right now! Boy, do _they_ trust you!

You force your hands to your side so you'd stop irritating your neck. You need something to distract yourself with. While Terezi leads you decide to explore the numerous pockets on your getup. You start with the compartments at your ankles. They're filled with who-knows-what and it's weighing you down.

The first thing you find is a book of matches. Next you discover a ball of string and a picture pamphlet that instructs you on how to tie snares, slip knots, and other useful traps. You also uncover a Swiss army knife and another picture booklet that shows you how to preform basic first aid.

You waste no time lightening your load of all this crap.

In your upper pockets you find two or three days' worth of rations and a flask of water. Within minutes your stomach is happier and your load has been lessened once again.

The last thing you find is the most intriguing and undoubtedly the most useful, though you didn't know it at first.

"Hey Terezi, do you have any idea what this is?" you ask her, holding up a brown bottle marked with the letters CHCL3.

The dragon hybrid stops her swinging in the trees and heads back to you. Taking the bottle, she gives it a sniff. She recoils as soon as she does this and practically throws the bottle back at you.

"What the hell, Vriska? Are you trying to drug me?" She hisses as she backs away. "That's trichloromethane!"

You stare at her incomprehensively. Terezi rolls her sightless eyes. "It's chloroform! The other experiments refer to it as Sweet Sleep, remember? It's the scientists poor on a cloth and force you to breathe until you pass out! Jesus, I can smell it through the bottle and just that is making be dizzy."

"Oh, shit!" You exclaim, suddenly understanding everything. "Fuck. Well, if they ever taught us to reeeeaaaad, this could have been avoided."

"Ugh, whatever. Let's keep going. I can smell we're catching up to them." With two powerful down strokes, Terezi lifts off and begins gliding through the trees. You slip the bottle back into your pocket and quickly hasten after her.

Flying slow is a lot harder than it sounds. You have to constantly beat your wings forward to stay air born; yet back wing practically every other beat to stay at a slow speed. In fact, you're more or less awkwardly hovering than flying.

Sure it'd be slower and less energy consuming to walk, but when would you ever get another chance to fly unrestrained like this again? Deep down in your heart you knew Scratch's words about "potentially being let free more often depending on this mission" were total bull. He didn't care how well you did so long as he got what he wanted. Now you were rapidly closing in on your targets and in a few hours your whole mission would be over. After this it'd be right back into the cage…

You break your glide with two backstrokes and land on the leafy forest floor. You need to wait for Vriska to catch up, and you want to make your outdoor excursion last as long as possible.

When Vriska catches up to you, she immediately kneels down and inspects the ground. "We're very close," she murmurs. "I know you can't see them, but there are tracks here and they're fresh. They couldn't have passed this way no more than an hour ago." She looks up at you with her eight eyes. "Can you smell them or see their heat?"

You take a deep breath and swivel your head, then point to your right. "There's something hot in that direction and the scent trail leads the same way," you inform your partner. "The heat spec is small, so they're still a ways off. Well, this was fun while it lasted," you sigh.

"Yeah, but we've got a job to do. Come on, let's get this over with. The sooner we catch them the sooner I can get this collar off."

"You got the net gun ready?" The sound of a locked and loaded weapon answers for you. "Heh heh heh. I hope they have an attorney because justice is about to be served."

Luck is on your side today. The winds are favorable and your targets aren't aware of your approach, What's more, they seem to have momentarily halted their progression. There are only two of the escaped hybrids in front of you. You're in luck. One of them is the dog.

You and Vriska automatically fall silent and instinctively get into position. You've worked together on drills like this countless times. This was going to be a piece of cake.

Swiftly, silently, you circle around to the front of the pair, sticking to the cold dark shadows for cover. Vriska would first attack from behind, hopefully managing to capture at least one of them. Then while the other was distracted, you would move in and apprehend them.

Good thing they were distracted already. Your senses tell you that they were looking up at something… But what?

"Jade, do you think it was a good idea to let them both climb up there?" a female voice asks.

"As if I could stop them," another feminine voice answers. "They're part bird. The trees practically call to them. Besides, all the branch hopping they're doing will really strengthen their wings. They might even get strong enough to fly."

The other hybrid is just about to reply before the explosive sound of the net gun fills the air. A terrified yelp from the canine hybrid quickly follows and your inner eye sees her heat signature fall to the ground.

The other hybrid, the feline you realize, turns to the direction of the gun fire. As soon as her back is to you, you leap from the bushes.

You can just imagine her eyes going wide in panic and utter confusion as she frantically scrambles away to avoid your draconic claws. You listen and grin as she runs into the forest- right into Vriska's grasp. The feline lets out a shrill half-shriek, half- yowl, telling you she's encountered the scorpion hybrid.

You turn your attention to the canine hybrid who's snarling and crying in rage and fear as she thrashes and twists herself deeper into the net. The smell of her struggles inebriates you.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" she shouts as you begin to drag her back in the direction you came.

"You broke some rules of BETA and that's against their laws. We were sent to fetch you and bring you back to the laboratories where you belong," you chortle devilishly. "I hope you enjoyed your little outing because you're sure to never have another."

"No! Let go of me!" The feline voice howls behind you. Vriska's got the hybrid's arms folded behind her back and forces her to walk forward.

"I wouldn't sssstrugle if I were you," Vriska hisses, dragging her barb delicately under the hybrid's chin.

"You don't scare me," The feline spits.

"Terezi get the chloroform ready."

"What? Vriska, you know I'm extra sensitive to that stuff!" You yell.

"Hey! I'd gladly to it myself but I've kinda got my hands full here!"

"Fine! Just hold her still." You drop the net and pull out a cloth from your first aid kit and unscrew the cap of your own bottle of trichloromethane. You carefully soak the cloth and move in closer to the hybrid. The aroma of dread she's emitting is delectable.

You slowly bring your claws closer to the feline's face, savoring her panic, but right before you can put the cloth to her face the air explodes with screeching. A heavy weight crashes down on top of you, knocking you to the ground.

Instinctively, you throw your arms out in front of you to break your fall, and your head hits your hands.

And also the chloroform soaked cloth.

You gasp and instantly realize your mistake. You struggle to get up. A clawed hand forces your head back down, face smothered in the rag. You try to hold your breath, but can't fight for long without air.

Finally, your body forces you to breathe again and in doing so, you inhale more of the sweet sleep.

It's too much. Your struggles get weaker and your mind is swimming. Slowly, the sounds of skirmish dim in your ear as you're forced into unconsciousness.

Flying.

You were actually flying.

Okay, so you were _technically_ falling, but you _chose_ to jump out of that that tree when you saw Jade and Rose being attacked by God-knows-what.

You had never felt such fury in your life. As soon as you heard their cries for help you scrambled through the branches as fast as you could and leapt without hesitation onto the… the _thing_ trying to drug Rose.

Your brother followed suit, angrily clawing at the hybrid restraining her. As soon as the one you attacked was unconscious, you grabbed the drugged cloth and forced her to inhale it too.

She fought hard, her long limbs and tail gave her range to strike and hit. She was also undeniably strong, managing to throw Dirk off of her in one try. But together you were just strong enough to overpower her and hold her down long enough to be intoxicated as well.

Once they were out you turned your attention to Jade.

Rose was already with her, trying to untangle the sparking green net.

"Oh, God. Get it off! Please get it off!"

"I'm trying, Jade," Rose says as calmly as she can despite trembling from her own ordeal. "Be still. We'll get it off."

"There's something wrong with this net. I can't use _the omnipotence_ on it!"

"We'll get you out. Just be calm. Dave, Dirk, can you help?" With all three of you working at the chords, the net becomes untangled in no time. "There, you're free."

Jade squirms out then shakes herself off. She stands there, wide eyed and shivering.

"Who… are they? _What_ are they?" she whimpers.

"I think… they're hybrids… like us…" Rose says.

"What the fuck?" you exclaim. "_I've_ never seen hybrids like that before. We certainly had none like _them_ in the holding room."

"The dragon one…" Jade mumbles. "She said they were sent to catch us and take us back." She looks you all in the eye. "What if there are more after us?"

"Then we better hurry and find some place safe to hide," Dirk says.

"But what are we going to do with them?" You point with your thumb at your conked out foes. "Are we going to leave them there, or what?"

"Maybe we should kill them," Dirk suggests.

"NO!" Jade yells, startling all of you. "We can't do that!"

"But Jade… they _attacked_ you. They were going to take you back to the lab," Dirk argues. "If we let them live they'll just come after us again."

"I know… but… they're still like us… Just think their humanity was taken away from them just like ours was… They can't help that they're this way."

You can't believe it. Jade had been attacked not even two minutes ago, but when she studies her attackers she looks at them with… pity?

"I think… if they were given a choice… they wouldn't do what the scientists ordered them to do."

"Jade, I'm sorry if I sound offensive, but I assure you the reptilian one was enjoying the terror I was feeling and I'm pretty certain the insect one was looking forward to stinging me if I fought back," Rose huffs. "These things are sadistic and were probably made to be so. They _want_ to hurt others and they relish it when they do. They're _dangerous_." Jade doesn't respond to this.

"Well, if you don't want us to kill them, can we de-arm them at least? Make them a bit less dangerous?" Dirk asks. Jade nods and your brother begins to go through their things. You join him and together you bunch up all their supplies in the net.

"Let's find a place to dump this shit where they won't find it," you say, hauling the net over your shoulder. With a few hesitant looks back, you once again hurry on your way.


	13. Act Two, Scene Four

Dusk was falling over the forest. You blindly follow your friends through the trees. Every sound makes you jumpy. When you're not lost in thought, you're looking over your shoulder, expecting to find those creatures tailing you. You're uneasy. Everyone's uneasy.

You muddle over the events that happened earlier that day. Did you make the right decision? Was it the right choice letting them live? You knew very well that those two meant to capture you and take you back to the lab. You also knew they even might have tried using violence to subdue you and your friends.

And yet… Even knowing all this, when you saw them lying there, vulnerable and helpless, harming them was the farthest thing from your mind.

What would their lives be like if they had been allowed to grow up as normal human beings? Would they have been nicer? Kinder? Destined for greater things? They would never have a chance to find out now.

After a few more hours of walking your party happens to encounter a rushing river. Dave wastes no time hurtling all the dangerous equipment he's been lugging around into the rapid current.

The net bundling all the gear begins to spark as soon as it hits the water. The river quickly pulls it down stream but just before it goes out of your line of sight you see it explode, shooting water high into the air.

"Good bye and good riddance," He says without regret. He looks to you and Dirk then back the way you came. "Rose, hurry up!" He shouts. You look back at the trees and find Rose a ways off, stumbling to catch up. "Come on, we're almost there!"

"Dave, you don't seem to realize just how short I am compared to the three of you," She pants when she finally catches up. "All this hiking and uneven terrain is running me ragged." She sighs, wipes the sweat from her brow with the back of her paw then promptly sits down. "I don't think I was meant to be an outdoor cat. I need to rest."

"It's just a bit further," Dirk says. "Do you think you can keep going for a little bit longer?"

"No, I'm certain I can't. Not at the pace you set."

Dave moans in annoyance. "Jade what do you think we should do?" He asks.

You don't hear him. You're too busy thinking.

"Jade," Dave says again, a bit louder.

"Hm? What?"

"I said, what do you think we should do? Should we take a break and rest or should we keep going?"

"We should keep going," you answer immediately. "This forest isn't safe."

"Jade, unless it's your plan to have me collapse from exhaustion, I am not moving from this spot," says Rose.

"We'll go slow, okay?" You bargain. "You set the pace so we won't leave you behind. We just really need to keep moving."

Something's off with you. The others sense it, but don't dare to pry. Instead, they wordlessly agree to your compromise and let Rose take the lead. Another hour later the sun has completely set and the temperature has dropped. You've all been keeping to a snail's pace, until-

"There's something up ahead," Dirk suddenly notifies you. You blankly look up and spy an orange glow through the trees.

Carefully, cautiously, you and your party approach it.

The trees abruptly fall away and you find yourself in a small clearing. In the center of this clearing is a simple log house.

"Wait," Rose halts you as you begin to walk toward it. "We don't know what's inside that house or whether it's friendly or not."

"Well… we won't know until we investigate it," You say. Slowly, you circle the small dwelling, giving it a wide berth. After your inspection you gather at the front of the house.

"There only seems to be one way in and it doesn't even look like anyone's home-"

"Who's out there?!" A deep, angry voice shouts as the door bursts open. A shaft of light illuminates you and the four of you scatter back into the shadows. "Ah ha! I know you hooligans are out there!" The voice continues to yell. "I saw your sorry faces! Now come out before I call the authorities!"

"Jade, I think we should leave this place," Dave harshly whispers in your ear.

"We can't go back into the forest, Dave," you whisper back. "Not with hybrids like the ones we encountered after us. Besides, maybe he's friendly?"

"I hear you whispering out there!" The stranger shouts some more. "I'll have you know you're trespassing on private property! When I get my hands on you, you're in for it!"

"Yeah, _real_ friendly," Dave says sarcastically.

"And don't think you can hide in the woods! The police will hunt you down with their dogs! Now I'm gonna give you until the count of five or I'm calling the cops!"

You exchange a worried glance with your friends.

"He's bluffing," Dirk says.

"ONE!" The angry man shouts.

"What if he's not? We can't afford to be found by the law. They'd take us back."

"TWO!"

"Don't you think he'd just call the authorities anyway if he knew who we were? We'd have a better change of staying free if we just left now," Rose objects.

"THREE!"

"No, we can't. We have to take a chance and hope for the best."

"Jade!" Dave harshly whispers as you slink towards the door on all fours.

"FOUR!... FI-" The voice stops short as you submissively step into the light. First one paw, then the other, then you reveal your face.

"Please don't call the police," your shaky voice squeaks.

"W-what… what the hell?" You and the man each get a good look at each other. He's old and has a massive hunch that isn't concealed very well by the trench coat he wears. His skin is ashy and pale from lack of sun, and his forehead has wrinkles from a constantly creased brow. The look in his yellowing eyes is not of fear, but of wonder.

"Please," The silence between you is making you nervous and you begin to babble. "They'd take us back to the lab if we were ever found. We can't go back there. They'd torture us."

"We? Us?" The old man questions. His eyes widen in amazement as Dirk, Dave and Rose come to your side, out of the shadows. You stand to your full height.

"Yes. Us."

For a minute there is a silent standoff. You can almost see the thoughts running through his head about the situation as you stare each other down.

"Fucking hell…" The man sighs and looks away first. He runs his fingers through is black hair and studies his shoes. Then, with a grumpy face he gestures with his head and thumb for you to enter the house. "Get your asses in here. It's too cold for kids like you to be out in this weather."

You exhale in relief. Your risk has paid off- this time. For now you could rest. For now you could relax.

Gratefully the four of you enter the warmth and safety of the house, and the man shuts the door behind you, sealing out the night.


	14. Act Two, Scene Five

_Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep…_

When you regain consciousness the sudden flood if sensory input hits your brain and hits hard.

The sounds you hear are too loud, the odors you smell are too strong, the colors of heat you see are too bright.

_Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep…_

"Uugghhh…" You groan and roll over. The sweet smell of the tetrachloromethane still lingers in the air, but it's no longer strong enough to keep you under.

Wait… Where's Vriska? And where were the other hybrids?

_Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep-_

And for the love of Jesus Christ where was that incessant beeping coming from?!

No matter which way you turn it always seems to be coming from just off your right side. You squeeze your hands against your ears and snarl in aggravation. When you find out where that beeping is coming from you're gonna-!

Just then you remember your collar. So _that's_ what it is. You push the top button.

"Argh! What? What do you want? Whatever it is I'll give it to you! Just make the beeping stop!"

"Ten Twenty-five!" The voice through the collar sounds surprised that you answered. You hear a quiet, "Sir, we've made contact," as the speaker talks to someone away from the mic.

"Ten Twenty-five, we've been tracking your and Eight Eighty-eight's movements and you've ceased progression for over five hours. What is your status report?"

"I was jumped from above by one of the little feathered fuckers and had my face shoved into a chloroform soaked rag," you grumble. "Ugh, I can still detect some vapors of it in the air. That's probably what kept me out for so long."

The man on the other end of the radio doesn't respond. You hear him mumbling something to someone away from the microphone. Suddenly the man is replaced and a new voice is speaking to you. A familiar voice. An impassive voice.

"Hello experiment Ten Twenty-five."

"Heh. What's up, Doc?"

"You claimed to have encountered one of the escaped hybrids. How did this run in go about?"

"Well, we managed to catch up to the little Houdinis. We even managed to net the dog girl. I was about to drug the felidae one when, as I said, one of your avian creations decided to use me as a landing pad! Nocked my face right into the Sweet Sleep…"

"I assume that's what caused you to be K-Oed for the last five hours then? Tell me, what has become of the experiments?"

"What do you think, Scratch? They got away while they could. And I bet-" you break off for a moment to pat yourself down. "Yep. They jacked us too."

"Have you any idea in which they are headed?" Scratch goes on.

"Doc, I just woke up. Do you _think_ I know what's going on?"

"I expected more from you, Ten Twenty-five. You boasted you would have them apprehended before sunset and now that marker has passed. In fact, after hearing this report on how you let your quarry get away, I'm beginning to question your competence."

"Listen here, Scratch!" You hiss, feeling offended. "We _will_ catch those sorry sons and daughters of bitches and return their goddamned asses back to you within the thirty days _you_ allotted us! So stop getting your vanilla scented panties in a twist and let us do our job! Good day to you sir!"

You disconnect the conversation and take a minute to seethe in anger. Lousy god damn stupid director. Lousy god damn stupid experiments! You shake and flex your body, regaining your motor skills and forcing the chloroform to wear off faster. Then, nose turned up, you begin to search for your accomplice.

You wonder in a small circle, trying to pick up a scent, but no luck. UGH! You can't smell anything! God, you hope long exposure to chloroform doesn't damage one's olfactory senses. If you lost your sense of smell you'd be practically twice as blind as you already were.

As if to prove a point, you suddenly trip over something hard and lumpy. Oh, _there's_ Vriska.

"Vriska. Vriska, wake up." Your partner is unresponsive. Uh oh. That can't be good. Squinting your eyes, you check her over. Her heat signature is cold- much too cold for arachnid or human. No wonder you didn't see her. You grip her wrist. She has a pulse, but it's slow and shallow. Her body's gone into a hibernation state, a survival mode, but she can't last like this for long. She needs help and fast.

Heat. She needs to warm up and to warm up she needs heat. You know, you'll start a fire! Yeah! That'll warm her up! But wait… you were both removed of your matches. Shit…

"Hang in there, Vriska," you mutter as you hug her to share what heat you could offer. "I'll think of something." It didn't make sense. Reptiles go into hibernation just like insects do if they got too cold, so why weren't you going into survival mode?

Were your human genes dominant enough to give you the power of homeostasis, or did dragon DNA have some sort of self-creating heat system?

Hmm… Dragons creating heat… you wonder…

"Hold tight, Vriska. I gotta collect some kindling," you tell her even though you know she can't hear you. "I think I found a solution.

XXX

The sensation of warmth arouses you. You open your eyes to a small fire. Terezi's sitting across from you, blowing on the fire to make it bigger. No, wait… she's _literally _blowing fire.

"What the fuck? You can breathe fire?!" you exclaim drowsily.

"Oh, hey. You're awake!" Your partner's voice is terribly coarse and croaky. She tries to clear her throat before speaking again. "Yeah, I had never tried before but apparently I can. It's tearing up my throat and makes it hard to breathe, though."

"Then why don't you fucking stop?" you scold.

"You were dangerously cold. If I hadn't done something you would have died."

"Ugh! Why'd you have to save my ass? You should've just let me die. At least that way I wouldn't have to deal with any more of B.E.T.A.'s shit." Despite saying all this, you were extremely grateful Terezi saved your life. But you weren't about to admit _that_ any time soon. You really would rather die than put yourself in someone's debt.

"Well, God. You're fucking welcome." Terezi huffs and turns away from you with arms crossed.

"Ssssoooo…" you say after a length. "How much did I miss while I was out?"

"Eh. The experiments got away, Scratch called, he's pissed at us, and I told him to fuck off." Terezi says nonchalantly.

"Hm."

"Maybe… maybe it's better things happened this way, Vriska," Terezi says while absentmindedly drawing scribbles in the dirt with her claw. "At least now we get to stay out longer."

"Truuuuue. But the fast we get them back the better it'll look for us."

"Why are you making such a big deal on how it will look for us?" The dragon hybrid sneers. "You know they don't give two shits about how fast we do it as long as they get the results they want, so who are you trying to impress?"

"I'm not trying to _impressss_ anybody!" You argue. "I just want to get this whole thing fucking over with already so I can get this fucking collar off."

"Vriska, have you forgotten we may never get another chance like this again? I say forget the fucking collar. Forget the fucking escapists even! We should just screw around for a while and catch them when the month's almost up. You know, make the most of it."

"If you want to do that, Terezi, then be my guest. But if you get punished for wasting time it'll be your own fucking fault."

Terezi sighs. "You always were a fucking joy killer. Anyway, let's just forget about it for now. It's too cold and I'm too tired to argue with you. We might as well just camp here for tonight and decide what to do in the morning."

"Fine by me."

With a scoop of dirt, Terezi extinguishes the flame and you both bed down for the night.

XXX

"So what's your story?" The elderly man asks after he shuts the door behind you.

"We are…_ were_… experiments in a research lab," you hesitantly begin.

You and your friends stand in a small living room, taking in your surroundings. In the small den there's a well-worn armchair, a couch and a fireplace that's ablaze. The kitchen is directly attached to the living room, only a few steps to the right. It only consists of a small fridge and ice box, sink, gas stove, toaster oven and a table with room for four. (Or, it could seat four if three of the chairs and three fourths of the table top weren't covered with papers and junk).

The old man hobbles over to the worn armchair and takes a seat. Despite the heat in the room he doesn't take off the heavy trench coat he's wearing.

"We were created to one day fight Lusii, but we escaped and now we're just trying to find a safe place to hide-"

"Hold on," the man interrupts. "You mean to tell me you were transformed into what you were now?"

"Well, duh," says Dave. "What, do you think we were _born_ this way?"

The old man looks away and creases his brow even more than it already was. He says nothing to Dave's statement.

"We followed the trail of smoke we saw coming from your house. There were two more experiments sent to track us down and bring us back, but we think we lost them for now. We're trying to find the city, actually. Do you… do you think you could point us in the right direction?"

"That depends," the elderly man puffs. "What do you plan to do once you get there?"

"Well, uh, hopefully find something to eat first."

"And then what? Wonder around for the entire world to see? Kids, if you don't have a plan of action, you'll find yourself back at that laboratory faster than you can blink."

At a loss for words, you don't say anything. Somebody's stomach rumbles. You think it was yours.

"When's the last time any of you have eaten?" Your host asks.

"Nothing substantial for quite some time," Rose says.

The man hoists himself out of his chair and lumbers over to the kitchen. He searches through the cupboards, pulls out some cans then opens the fridge and takes out some fruit.

"I've got some apples and oranges and a few cans of stew. Can you eat that?"

"Y-yes," you stutter, a bit abashed by the man's generosity.

"Sorry it's not a whole lot. I usually don't have to feet four." He lights the gas stove and set a pot on it to heat the stew then passes out the fruit.

"Th-thank you, Mister… um," It occurs to you that you don't even know your host's name.

"Vantas," he mumbles. "My name is Karkat Vantas."

"Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Vantas."

"Don't mention it."

"So, now that your stomachs are full and your minds are off food, have you figured out what you're going to do when you get to the city?" Karkat asks you after you've finished eating.

"I guess we'll just try and live there unnoticed," Dirk suggests.

"Yeah, good fucking luck with that," Karkat scoffs. "Not one of you looks a day older than thirteen. You're all still just kids. With the child labor laws here, you'd never be able to find work to support yourselves, even if you didn't have all those feathers and fur and tails. What you need is an adult to take you in."

You, Rose, Dave and Dirk look at Karkat hopefully.

"Oh… oh, no! Not me. I'm too old and I'm a hermit. I just want to be left alone and I only go into the city when I need to. If I allowed you to stay I'd have to start buying more food and supplies. People will question that kind of thing and I don't want to deal with the bullshit that'll follow."

"Then… do you by any chance know of someone in the city we can go to?"

Karkat shakes his head slowly. "I'm afraid I don't. Sorry."

"Oh…" you say a bi crestfallen.

"But," Karkat adds. "There is one thing I can help you with."

Curiously, the four of you watch as Karkat pulls himself out of his chair once again and heads into his bedroom. The sounds of grunts and shuffling items soon follow and before long your host returns, arms laden with… clothes?

"I can't assure you safety in the city, but I can do something to help you stay under the radar if you go there." He places the garments on the chair then holds the first one up for you to see. "These clothes should be long enough to cover up your… unique features.

"For you young ladies a long enough dress should be able to hid your tails, and a hat will cover your ears, and these heavy coats should be big enough to cover your wings," he nods to Dirk and Dave. "As for all your hands and feet, I've got a few long gloves and one or two pairs of boots, but I don't know how well they'll fit."

Karkat wastes no time passing out jackets and hats and socks and pants for all of you to try on. He's throwing clothes at you so fast and you're all a bit overwhelmed by his eagerness to help you.

"Why are you so willing to help us?" Dave asks when he gets a chance. "Do you really care what becomes of us once we reach the city, or do you just want to get us out of your house?"

"That's rather rude, don't you think bro?" Dirk reprimands him. "I think we should be grateful someone is willing to help us when we can't help ourselves."

"No, it's fine," Karkat says to Dirk. "It's good he's suspicious of other's motives. That kind of awareness could save your life in the city. I speak from experience. But if you want to know why I'm doing all this for you, well," He trails off for a minute, looking out the window into the night. "It's because I was in a very similar position you are all in when I was your age. I could've used a helping hand, but no one was there for me. Had to figure shit out all by myself. Maybe you won't have to go through the same problems I had to if you get a little help."

"Gosh… thank you…" You say.

"Don't mention it." Karkat slowly limps over to the door of his room. His age clearly shows after all the moving and work his body has done today. He stops in the door and turns to the four of you.

"One last thing. I can only offer you one night's respite. It's too crowded in here for five and I can't spare much more food. Where ever you decide to go, I want you out by morning, got it?" You all nod in agreement. "Good. Goodnight." With that, Karkat shuts the door to his room, leaving you alone in the den.

"We got lucky," Dirk says once he shuts the door. "Of all the possibilities from our encounter, he ended up helping us. I sure hope we can find someone in the city who will do the same."

"I guess we won't know until we get there," Dave sighs as he spreads out on the floor. Dirk joins him while Rose curls up in the chair. You take to the couch and watch the dying embers of the fire in the hearth.

You've been out of B.E.T.A. labs for barely more than twenty-four hours and already you've escaped pursuers and found refuge. Tomorrow you'd be heading to the city, a whole new place with new situations, encounters and dangers.

Your friends would still be counting on you to guide them, but you would be just as lost as what to do once you got to the city as they would.

Would you be able to keep them safe? Would you be able to keep them together? Would you be able to find enough food and shelter for them? Even if you could, what would you do then? Sure, you're free… but what now?

You sigh and close your eyes. It was no use worrying about those problems until you came to them. For now you were safe. For now you could rest. And that's what you decided to do.

XXX

Hours after you bid your guests goodnight, you still find yourself awake, sitting on the corner of your bed, unable to sleep.

Those kids… _Those kids_.

Rarely do you see another face. You try to avoid them if you can. It's different when faces come looking for _you_. Usually they're just a nuisance; pranksters, ruffians, hooligans.

But those kids…

As silently as you can, you open the door and step into the main room. They're all asleep; the two boys on the carpeted floor, and the girls on the furniture.

Those kids…

You always knew there were more, deep in your heart. You _knew _you weren't the only one. Yet to see not one, but _four_…

You go back to your room and hobble over to your dresser and mirror. You study yourself for a long time; your greying hair, your wrinkling face, your yellowing eyes which hide the green of your irises, your hunched back.

Actually, it's not a hunch at all, or are you as elderly as you make out to be. All this… a ruse… a lie to protect who you truly are… _what _you truly are.

Slowly, delicately, you pull off the trench coat you wear to hide your true self, revealing the white crustacean shell that encases your body.

Those kids were just like you.


	15. Act Two, Scene Six

Blood pulsing, Fear escalating,

The silver needle coming down,

Voices screaming,

Pain inevitable, Body changing,

Dying.

You're dying. You're-

You awake with a start; heart pounding, hair raised, and soaked in a cold sweat.

Who needs an alarm clock when your nightmares never fail to wake you up? For a second you can't comprehend where you are. These scents and surroundings aren't familiar. What's going on, where-?

Memories suddenly flood back to you. That's right; you aren't in the lab any more. You've fled that place, buried it in your past… But it seems you're still stuck with the bad dreams.

You sit up, stretch, and then turn your attention to the window. The sky is beginning to lighten. Karkat will be expecting you to leave soon.

"Guys, wake up." You whisper to your still sleeping friends. "We have to get ready to go soon." They can't hear you. They're still too deep asleep. "Guys-"

"Okay, young'uns!" A loud voice demands, "Rise and shine! Get your asses up!" Karkat shouts, brashly entering the room. He flicks on the lights. Suddenly there's a flurry of feathers and fur as your friends are startled awake.

"Up and at 'em, now. Get dressed. You've got a long road ahead of you today."

"Good morning to you too," Dave grumbles as he puts on his new clothes.

Karkat unapologetically heads to the kitchen and starts pulling out perishables from his fridge. Bread, lunch meats, spreads, before you know it he's whipped up eight sandwiches- two for each of you- then he raps them in paper towels and seals them in a plastic bag.

"Here, this is the last I can spare for you. If you ration them wisely they should last you until you reach the city," He hands you the bag. "There are turkey, ham, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in there. You ever had PB and J? It's an Old Earth recipe."

"Wait, did you turkey?" Dirk asks with a distressed look.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Turkeys are birds…"

"Aw, dude." Dave says, understanding something you don't.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Vantas, but I don't think I could eat something that's like myself."

"Now you listen here, kid," Karkat says, fixing Dirk and Dave with stern looks. "I don't care if you don't want to eat something that had feathers like you, but when you get to the city you're gonna learn real fast to be fucking grateful for the food you can find. It doesn't matter if you feel right or not eating it, but it's dead now anyway so don't let it go to waste. You'll regret it if you do."

"Why, is there some sort of food shortage in the city?" Rose asks as he begins herding you all out the door.

"You'll find out for yourself when you get there. Now follow this path all the way east and it will take you directly to the city. Remember to stay out of sight or at least stay covered up."

"Mr. Vantas!" you shout back as you begin down the well-worn path. "Thank you. For all your help." Karkat waves his hands in a 'think-nothing-of-it' gesture then turns to head back inside. Your eyes stay fixed on the door until he shuts it behind him. Once it's closed you adjust your hat then turn back to the road ahead.

You're all in much higher spirits in your second day of freedom than the first. Today you have a destination and route to get there. Today you have a course of action. Today you have some food and some clothes to conceal your identities. And despite not knowing what you would face up ahead, no one is very nervous about what to expect next.

You're still a bit worried about your pursuers, though. You can only hope that they've lost your trail and gave up tracking you. If they haven't…

"Hey! I can hear noise!" Rose says an hour into your march. You stop and listen but hear nothing.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. It's coming from up ahead."

"Hey, let's climb up and see if we can spot the city yet," dirk elbows his brother, kicks off his boots, and then starts climbing the nearest tree. Dave is quick to follow.

"Here we go again," you sigh, and put your paw up to your brow to shield your eyes from the sun as you watch them scale the tree trunk.

"We see something!" they shout a few moments later. The next thing you know, they're scrambling back down in excitement.

"Tall buildings, and something kind of round and flat too," Dave describes. "It's directly ahead."

"We should reach it before the sun is at its highest," Dirk adds.

The four of you pick up your pace. As you trek on your anticipation builds, along with your anxiousness. Before long, you too can hear the sounds of the city; chiming bells and wailing sirens, the hum of a thousand voices and the melody of music.

The closer you get the louder it becomes. Soon you stop _hearing _the city, you_ feel_ it. The city is alive; a living, breathing creature and the people are its pulse.

All at once the trees end and you find yourself atop a hill, looking down into civilization below. Too awestruck to speak, you and your friends just stand and gawk at all the things you see below.

Buildings of all sizes and shapes, squatting low to the ground or grabbing at the sky; hundreds of noises you can't identify, each alien and unique; thousands of odors and aromas cluttering your mind as your brain tries to decipher each one, some tantalizing while others more obtrusive, mixing into one fragrant sensory overload.

But the most captivating sight of all-

The people.

Thousands, possibly _hundreds_ of thousands of people going about their daily lives, creating the powerful collective hum that is the life force of the city you heard from far away. Each one is so different from the last, their height, their skin tone, their shape, their features, and their attire. You have no idea what constitutes as "normal" dress ware, but you hope you and your friends will go unnoticed amongst so many.

For a while the four of you just stand there and observe it all, too dumbfounded to do anything else. It's all just so breathtaking and terrifying at the same time, you don't know what to make of it. One thing is certain- here is where the real tests for freedom begin. One slip up, one misstep, and you risk blowing your cover. Blow your cover and you risk being captured and sent back to BETA. Get caught and sent back to BETA… you prefer not to think about it.

How long you just stood there and studied the city, you have no clue. It's only when a forceful voice shouts at you "Hey, you kids!" do you snap back into reality.

Caught off guard, you practically jump out of your skin. You almost jump a second time when you find the origin of the voice.

Walking towards you with a gun in one holder and hand cuffs in another and wearing an expression of serious intent, is a law enforcer.

_'Finally,'_ you think as you shut the door behind you. You thought they'd never leave.

After a morning filled with mayhem there was nothing more you wanted than to just rest in solitude.

Perhaps… you were a little rude rushing them out like that… No, those free loaders needed to go, you resolve.

You lumber over to your chair and heavily sit down.

Alone. You're completely and utterly alone. You've lived alone for as long as you can remember; on your own, forced to learn and fend for yourself. Being alone never bothered you before… so why do you feel so isolated now?

There are a few feathers and clumps of fur left behind on your furniture. Those kids… God dammit. You only knew those kids for a few hours, yet the impression they left on you… others just like you- freaks of nature shunned and feared for being what they couldn't help being. People were cruel. You knew this first hand from personal experience.

You barely survived the city for being what you were, and you had to do it all on your own. You could tell those kids would never make it on their own just by looking at them. But maybe, with a little help, you could at least give them a fighting chance. You know _you_ sure could've used a little help…

"The miserable whelps," you sigh. Whatever became of them, you hoped they'd be okay. From what Jade told you, the four of them _weren't_ born that way, they were actually _made_ into… what was her word for it? Hybrids? And only she knew how to use _the Green Lightning_…

Yeah, they didn't have a prayer if only she could wink things in and out of existence, and judging by her tale, she still wasn't very good at it.

You had to give them_ some_ credit, though. The story of their plight and escape from pursuers could not have been an easy one. Besides, you just _know_ there are others like you and them in the city. If those elusive bastards could establish a life under cover there, maybe they could too. Perhaps they may chance to run into one.

You happen to glance out the window and notice the sky is rich with reds and oranges. Sunset already? How long were you lost in thought? Well, better get supper started.

Hauling yourself out of your chair, you make your way over to the kitchen and-

_Bunp, bunp, bunp, bunp._

Something heavy is pounding against your door. Did those four come back? Slightly annoyed and slightly surprised that they returned, you go to the door without a second thought.

"I thought I told you to get-" you open the door. There's no one there. "W-what-"

The next thing you see is a large segmented tail with a barbed tip racing towards your face.

_THWAP!_

The impact of the rock hard exoskeleton sends you flying back into the narrow hallway. You land hard on your back. The sound of your plated dorsal side makes when it hits the ground is like two slabs of stone slamming together. God, if you didn't have a shell that could have resulted in a spinal injury.

Your senses have been knocked clean out of you, You concentrate on trying to make the room stop spinning, but as it finally comes to a halt, a heavy hand presses itself on your chest to keep you from getting up.

The owner of the hand shoves her face into yours and inhales deeply. "Hello," she hisses and smiles wide, revealing two rows of razor sharp teeth.

Your blood goes cold. Her voice is like snakes, her eyes are blood red, her arms… are covered in scales?

That's when it really hits you as to what's going on. You know this girl. This is one of the creatures sent out to capture Jade and the others.

The reptilian hybrid lifts her head and sniffs the air. "Vriska, they were here," she tells the door way.

"I thought as much," another hybrid saunters in, her scorpion tail swinging side to side in her wake. "Their trail let right to here. Keep him down while I search the place."

"Get… Get off me!" You grunt as you wrestle to push the dragon hybrid's weight off your chest.

"I'd stop resisting if I were you," she chuckles. "I can smell you've been harboring federal property and fugitives from the government and can be punished with your life if anyone at BETA laboratories found out as well." She sniffs your skin with deep breaths. Her eyes widen in astonishment and a mischievous grin spreads across her face. "I also smell some other secrets on you that BETA would just _love_ to see."

Oh, God. She knows. You swallow hard.

Vriska is busy kicking open the doors and rearranging the furniture. You watch helplessly from the floor as your new interior designer remodels your house.

"No luck, Terezi," She says after she successfully and literally turned everything in your house upside down. "They ain't here. I found some more feather and fur samples. They couldn't have fled the joint too long ago."

"Aw, what a shame," Terezi says without a hint of remorse. She fixes her blind eyes onto yours. "I guess we'll have to settle doing an interrogation on this suspicious character here and learn why these strange feathers and furs are in his house in the first place. And then maybe ask some _other_ more _personal _questions.

Your eyes dart wildly between the two monstrosities. The scorpion hybrid, cracking her knuckles and looking at you like a piece of meat, the dragon hybrid practically slathering on you, waiting for the command to bite.

You think fast. Pulling your legs up to your chest, you thrust with all your might and manage to kick the dragon hybrid off. In such a confined space she can't help but be thrown right into her accomplice, momentarily incapacitating them both.

Without wasting a second, you roll yourself over then stagger into your room, hastily locking the door behind you.

_THUMP! BANG! WUMP!_

The old wood door shakes and bends violently as the hybrids pound on it, and it threatens to give at any second.

"Come out, old man! Give up peacefully and we _may _go easy on you!" Vriska shouts.

'_Okay, calm down. Relax, Karkat,'_ you think to yourself._ 'I know we haven't done this in a while, but you've got to be calm or it won't work,'_

Behind you, you can hear the wood of the door splinter and crack. You haven't got much time.

'_First think of a place…'_

More cracking noises reach your ears as the wood continues to splinter. She's breaking though.

'_Now reach out…'_

"That's it! You're dead, old man! Hear me? Dead!"

'_Connect, and-'_

_SMASH!_

"HE's mine!" you shout as Vriska's fist delivers the final blow to the door. As soon as you smell the wood shatter, you leap through splinters and into the room, ready to apprehend your perp.

But to your complete surprise-

"Wha- How-" You scan the room with your heat seeking eyes and scent the air furiously. It's not adding up. "How is this possible?" You turn to your partner in utter astonishment. "Vriska!" you shout as she wipes the sawdust of her knuckles.

"What's wrong? Did you catch him?"

"No. He's… He's gone!"

**Authors Note: This will be ExperimentStuck's last update for a while as school starts again for me in a week. Sorry for the inconvenience! **


	16. Act Three, Scene One

It just didn't add up. You had him cornered in a room with only one exit. There was no place to run to, no place to hide. So how was it possible that he got away?

"How is it possible that you let him get away?" Vriska repeats your thoughts out loud.

"The hell if I know!" You growl back at her. "It doesn't make any sense! His scent trail just ends, his heat signature completely disappears, it's like he vanished out of thin air! Oooh, when I find that crustacean scented mutant-!"

"Crustacean scented mutant?"

"Yeah! He smelled like fish, and when I had him pinned down I could feel hard plates on his chest instead of skin. As farfetched as it sounds, I think he was some kind of hybrid like us, and-" A realization dawns on you, leaving you speechless. You suddenly understand everything.

"What?" Vriska asks when you trail off.

"He's just like _her_," you whisper. "He knows how to use _the omnipotence _too!"

"Whaaaat? But… the canine hybrid is the only experiment to be perfected-"

"That's just it! He's not an experiment! He's some other kind of hybrid, one that wasn't made in any laboratory and can successfully use _the omnipotence_!"

"That means he could have teleported himself anywhere! We'll never find him now. And he was our only lead too! Damn it!" Vriska stomps back into the main room. You join her, only to find your accomplice inspecting the stove in the kitchen. "That clever bastard may have gotten away, but I'm going to make sure he can't come back."

Your inner eye watches as Vriska pulls the stove away from the wall, and with one violent swing of her tail, she severs the cords and tubes behind it.

_Fffffffffffsssssssssssssssss sssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh_

Your nose tickles at the smell of natural gas as it rapidly fills the house and you grin maliciously. You know what Vriska's trying to do.

"Let's step outside, sssshhhhall we?" she asks you. "I'm in the need of a bit of fresh air."

You make your leave, but not before raiding what was left in the fridge, then snack on your loot under the trees as you wait for the house to completely fill with gas.

"Would you like to do the honors?" Vriska jokes.

"Gladly," Spreading your wings, your take to the air, circling up to the roof of the small dwelling. Your keen nose detects the smell of gas escaping from the chimney and you swoop in to target the opening.

You take a deep breath. A familiar warm sensation fills your gut, a scratchy, tingling feeling itches your throat, your nose tickles, like your about to sneeze. With one mighty blow, you're spitting a blazing stream of fire right down the flute of the chimney. Its colors are so bright and warm in your inner eye.

The next thing you know there are colors everywhere as the house explodes. The force of the combusting gas sends you soaring. You throw your arms up to protect your face then beat your wings as hard as you can to escape the debris. But you could still see the colors. My god, were they beautiful.

Everything that was blown sky-high reaches is apex then begins to descend back to the earth. You join the wreckage, spiraling down as gracefully as a dragon hybrid can. Vriska' waiting for you at the edge of the trees.

"That one may have gotten away but there's still four more out there. Let's get back to our main task, shall we?"

You inhale, drinking in the scents, mentally tasting all the aromas around you. The smell of destruction, the scent of cool, damp earth, the lingering trace of your quarry heading to the east. It made you feel invigorated.

"Let's," you finally exhale, flashing your demonic smile at your partner then continuing on your merry way.

XXX

You were on a routine patrol around part of the city's perimeter when you spotted them. "You kids better not go anywhere!" You shout as you approach the four. _'What the heck are they wearing?'_ you wonder. _'Is this really the fashion now-a-days?' _You had heard from your daughter that "retro" was back in style, but these four looked like they jumped out of a history book about fashion from Old Earth.

Whatever. You push the thought aside and focus on the more important matter; four potential juvenile delinquents about to trespass into the woods. Look at 'em. You can see the guilty expression written all over their sorry faces. Not one of them could have been any older than fifteen- still practically babies if someone asked you. This was the first time you had seen these particular four so close to the city boarder. You decided you would rough 'em up a bit before sending them off with a warning.

"So, mind explaining to me what you young'uns are doing this far out of the city?"

One of the girls starts to stutter. "We, uh, we were just-"

"You weren't thinking about going into these here woods, were you?"

"N-no, sir,"

"You better not have or else I would have to fine you. These woods are owned by B.E.T.A. Laboratories and trespassing here would be a federal offense."

"Yes sir, s-sorry sir."

"And why aren't you four in school? Are you playing hooky?"

You have to bite back your laughter as you watch their faces drain of color. You've got them so terrified that they can't even come back with a reply.

"Uh, we… we just-"

"Ah, hahaha!" you burst out laughing, unable to hold it in any longer. "I'm just messing with you!" It's Sunday, remember? Or did I scare you so bad I made you forget?"

"Oh… ahaha, y-you got us good, sir."

"Please, call me officer A.R."

"Yes s- uh, officer A.R."

"Now I'm going to let you four off with a warning this time. Don't let me catch you this close near the city limits again or next time I'll have to take you down town. We clear?"

"Crystal clear, officer A.R. We were just going now."

"Right. Get a move on. Oh, and stay in school!" You call after them as they hastily head back to the city. You watch them four a bit to make sure they're really going. Ah, youth. You remember when you were their age, wanting to explore the world like they do.

The city… it was too cramped, too constrained and restricting. How tormenting it was to see beyond the invisible walls across this beautiful world, yet know going there was impossible. Those kids would grow used to it eventually, you think. Everybody does. Besides, here you were safe. The world beyond the shield was too dangerous.

The kids were almost out of your sight now, and you are just about to return to your patrol when, wait-

Was that a… tail?

Squinting, you focus in as hard as you can on the girl of the group who spoke to you… No, it was just her dress, catching a gust of air. Wasn't it? Yeah, that had to be it. There had been no recent reports or sightings of _them _in months.

Shrugging the ludicrous thoughts aside, you return to your patrol.

XXX

"That was close," you say once you're a safe distance away from the police officer. "Do you think he suspected anything?"

"I'm not sure," says Dirk. "He seemed pretty dense if you ask me."

"Besides, you handled that _so smoothly_, no one would have guessed _you_ looked suspicious for a thousand years." The sarcasm in Dave's voice is too obvious to ignore.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" you demand. "I didn't see you trying to help talk our way out."

"I don't mean anything," Dave puts up his hands in innocence. "I'm just sayin'-"

"Guys!" Rose steps between you two. "I think we have more important issues to discuss rather than argue. You two need to quit behaving like children and focus."

"Right," says Dirk. "So… what do we do now?"

They were right. Ignoring Dave, you take a look at your surroundings. You're in an alleyway between two buildings that appear to be abandoned.

"Well, uh, I guess we find a place to lay low, and I don't know… live?" Only now that you were here did you realize how on your own you truly were. With no better plan in mind, the four of you dare to explore the city.

The self-consciousness the four of you feel is borderline paranoia. In fact your behavior probably drew more stares than your clothes. But once you took a chance and looked around you, everything changed.

What indescribable wonders did you behold. What amazing goods and wares did you discover. You couldn't possibly even attempt to guess their names or functions, but their designs and ingenuity captivated you still.

And so you window shopped, just seeing what there was to see. Ninety-seven percent of the time you had no idea what you were beholding, but it fascinated you none the less, and on that list of unimaginable wonders you discovered home appliances and hardware stores, craft and hobby stores, pottery and ceramics stores, video games and toy stores, thrift stores and pawn shops, gyms and banks and book stores, arcades and sports stores, beauty salons and electronics stores, furniture stores, office supplies stores, hospitals and business offices a dozen stories high. You even stumbled upon a school and movie theatre, but some monstrous noises coming from the latter prompted you to give it a wide berth.

Then there was the activity on the streets. Street performers, acrobatic free runners and extreme sports persons performing daredevil antics on two wheeled devices and four wheeled rides. People on stilts, people on unicycles, jugglers and gymnasts performing for the masses. Street artists painting portraits and caricatures, chalk artists creating optical illusions on the roads with colorful dust, even the graffiti on old walls was stunning to you.

The civilians were also their own special brand of uniqueness. Even though they were just part of the "norm", everything they did was intriguing. The way they talked, what they talked about, the devices they used, like cell phones and iPods, the children skipping rope or throwing Frisbees or flying kites or playing catch with a ball, the colors and patterns on all of their clothes, their makeup and perfumes and hair styles, their flamboyant and glittering accessories,,, it was all almost too much for you.

And then there was music.

Music. You had never heard music before in your entire life. The sweet rhythmic sound was a one of kind. The voices of singers, strong and rich, be it a soloist or even the hundreds of tones and pitches a choir could make was simply beautiful. And then you discovered instruments.

Individuals or in groups, the musicians played intertwined with the street performers and you could do nothing to pull your attention away from them. How did these inventions make such lovely noise? The question burned so hot within you that you completely forgot about staying low and dared to ask a performer.

"What is that?" You asked a man who was dragging a stick across a contraption of wood with four strings. He gives you a puzzled, almost irritated look.

"What? Heave you never seen a violin before?"

"No," you say in wonder. "It's beautiful."

The violinist's expression softens. "Oh, what a shame. The musics and fine arts are always the first to go in schools when there are budget cuts."

"Jade, come on," Dirk whispers to you to get you back on track. Reluctantly, you leave and the violinist starts playing again. "We don't want to draw attention to ourselves, remember?"

"I know, but… just look at everything here. We've seen so much new stuff for the first time ever… I never knew there was so much to know. So much to be _human_."

You meander on, going with the flow of foot traffic. The further you go, the more you begin to realize that all the roads in the city seem to converge at one central point. At this point you make your biggest find yet.

"What _is_ this?" you whisper, completely awestruck.

It was a ship- an ancient ship at that, bigger and wider and taller than any building in the city. It was a ship in which all of humanity used to flee from Earth and arrived in here on Alternia. It was a ship that was used as refugee from the hostile Lusii during those first perilous years. It was a ship that was later turned into the city hall of the settlement you now called home.

"Dave, this is that dome-thing we saw from the trees," Dirk tells his brother when he makes the connection. "I bet we're in the center of the city."

"The center of the city sounds like a hot spot for law enforcement." Dave sniffs. "Let's find a place more secluded." Everyone readily agrees and you move on to explore the city's other half.

All eight sandwiches Karkat had given you that morning were long gone by the time you decided to call it a day, but you had all been so preoccupied with the sights of the city that you hardly noticed your hunger. Only when in an alley way amongst some trash bins, did your need for sustenance become apparent.

"Man, I'm starving," Dave complains.

"So what are we going to do for food now that were here?" Dirk asks to anyone. "We don't have money, so we can't buy some."

"Even if we did, I think there's another snag in that plan," Rose says. "During our excursion today, not once did I find a market, food establishment, or venders on the street. Not even a single person we passed today had a snack with them, or at least not one I could see. I also couldn't smell any aroma of cooked goods in the air. It's funny- with so many people in one place I figured food would be everywhere."

You each take a moment and try to recollect any sighting of food you may have seen through the day, but couldn't Rose was right.

"How do you notice these things?" Dirk asks her.

Rose shrugs her shoulders. "I just try to keep our long-term goals in mind. 'Find a source of shelter; find a source of food and water.' We've already got cover, and water shouldn't be too hard. There's bound to be a lake or river in the city park we passed, but I've yet to spy a single place that offered food."

"Do you think this is just how a city is?" you ask her.

Rose shrugs again. "For all I know every city that ever was is like this, but it just doesn't seem logical to me. These people have to get their produce from _somewhere._"

"Then Mr. Vantas was right," you knit your brow as you recall his warning. "There's something off with this city." You peak out of the alley way. Dusk was falling and people were heading home for the evening. You look back at the things around you.

"Hm," you get up and begin to inspect the trash bins, opening their lids and inspecting each one.

"What are you doing?" Dave asks you.

"Not all food is sold fresh, right? A lot of food needs packaging, right?" You rummage through the litter until you find what you're look for; a food wrapper. "Aha! Look! This has evidence of food on it. Maybe, if we're lucky, we'll find left over food in one of these."

"Jade, that's _garbage_. You would seriously eat someone else's trash if it was edible?"

You give Dave the most sorry, apologetic look you can manage. "What else can we do, Dave?" He breaks your gaze and looks down at the ground in shame.

"So it's a question of live like rats or not live at all," Dirk mumbles.

"Unfortunately," Rose sighs. "But pride will always have to take a step back when it's life on the line."

"You know, I thought we'd be doing more 'living' once we got out of B.E.T.A. instead of constantly worrying when our next meal would come."

The four of you get to work sifting through rubbish. You're careful to put every piece back so it looked like the bins were never touched. You didn't need people getting suspicious of who was messing with the trash cans. Street after street you search, sorting through all kinds of waste products. You find plenty of empty bottles and cans and wrappers and bags and boxes and packages, but not one crumb of food. You start to wonder what you would do if you never found anything but no solution comes to mind.

A dozen streets later you luck out and find something. "Ah! Guys! I found, something," you call your friends together to inspect your discovery. It's an apple with one bite in it. The skin is soft and bruised. The inside is an unpleasant shade of brown and fuzzy spots are beginning to grow around the bite.

Dirk looks at it then at you, unsure. "That apple looks like it's been going bad. Are you sure we should eat this?"

"Are we desperate enough yet?" you reply. "Mr. Vantas said to be thankful for the food we could find. After all that work just one measly apple, I can see why." Looking at the rotting fruit is beginning to make you lose your appetite, but your stomach decides to be ironic and growls.

"We can split it," you offer.

"No thanks, Jade. You found it, you earned it."

"I think I'll pass,"

"Me too."

You swallow your nerves and take a deep breath. 'Survival first, dignity later,' you try to convince yourself.

This is it. You close your eyes tight, bring the fruit clos tot your face, open your mouth and-

"Aw gross! You're really gonna do it! Hahaha!"

A stranger's voice startles you, and you fumble with the apple in your paws. Everyone whips their head around, but can't locate the voice's owner.

"Up here," it tells you, and you turn to the roof tops. There you find a young blonde girl, lying on her back, watching you upside down.

Before you can speak, she grabs the roof's edge, kicks off with her back feet, and nimbly flips down smack dab amongst the four of you. When she lands you're in for another surprise.

She straightens up, dusts herself off and smiles at you with her shocking emerald eyes. But that's not the only thing shocking about her.

"Hi," She says cheerfully as you stare, flabbergasted at her fuzzy pointed ears and bushy pink tail exposed for the entire world to see. She grabs your gloved paw and shakes it with a paw of her own.

"My name is Roxy, and yes, I am just like you!"


	17. Act Three, Scene Two

Of all the scenarios you predicted and planned for, this was not one of them. In fact, you never even fathomed such an encounter. This Roxy person… she was just like you, complete with furry ears and tail and paws to match. You couldn't believe it, another hybrid.

You Immediately begin assessing the girl in front of you. Aside from her animal features in full show, she was wearing tattered blue jeans with a short black skirt pulled over it. Her shirt is wrinkled and grey with splashes of pink and a rough black drawing of a cat's silhouette sitting off center on the left.

You quickly realize Roxy's show of dexterity is nothing but a rouse, for she sways unsteady on her feet. She takes a step and nearly stumbles, catching herself on a wall and then places one hand on her hip to play it off. Good God, the girl's intoxicated.

"You ain't seriously gonna eat that rotten ol' apple, are you?" She asks Jade.

Jade's still to dumbstruck to speak. Roxy turns to the rest of you.

"What's wrong with alla you? Ya act like you've nevner sneen another half-breed before." Roxy blinks then clears her throat. "*Eh-hem* Never. Seen." She corrects herself.

"Who _are_ you?" You dare to ask.

"What? You got the mem'ry of a gloldfish or something? *Eh-hem* goldfish." Roxy looks at you as if you're the weird one. "I already told ya, I'm Roxy. Foxy Roxy, but it's better the humans don't know 'bout the 'foxy' part.

"And what about you four? I ain't seen the likes of your faces in town before today. Ya new here? Never seen half-breeds stickin' together like you're doin'. Pretty whisky gane you pray. *Eh-hem* Risky. Game. Play."

"Half-breeds?" Jade inquires. "What are you talking about?"

"Hon, I know you ain't all human," Roxy smiles and with one paw, flicks off jade's hat. Jade gasps, drops the apple and fumbles to put her cover back on.

"W-w-what do you mean?" Jade tries to play it off, but despite being drunk, Roxy wasn't easily fooled.

"Girl, why you hidin' what the good lord gave you?" She sticks her arm out and places her paw palm up. Suddenly, it's glowing green, and the next thing you know, Jade's hat appears in her grasp.

Jaws drop. Eyes go wide in disbelief. Once again you're all utterly speechless. This girl is just full of surprises.

"What- How- how did you do that?" Dirk asks in amazement.

"What, you mean you can't?" Now Roxy's the one looking at you in confusion. "How on Alternia did you four even survive this long?"

"H-hey, g-give that back!" Jade demands, reaching for the hat. "Someone might see me!"

"Ain't no one gonna see you!' Roxy says, raising her arm up to keep the headwear out of her reach. "It's the middle of the night! In fact…"

Roxy raises her other arm. Her paw begins to glow green and with a flash, _all_ your hats, boots, gloves and coats have vanished, leaving you with nothing but your plain white duds.

"Hey!" You protest. "We need those!"

"Not at night, you don't," Roxy giggles.

"What did you do with them?" Dave growls.

"I put them away," Roxy shrugs her shoulders like it's no big deal.

"Well, give them back!"

"Why don't you just take 'em back?" she asks in perplexity.

"We… we can't."

"What do you mean you can't? You mean you can't do this?" her paw glows and with a flash, Jade's hat has reappearified in her hand. You all shake your heads. "Really? How about teleporting yourselves anywhere you wish?" With each word, Roxy winks in and out of space, reappearing in a new spot each time. You shake your heads again, trying to follow her movements. "Hmm, what about shrinking yourself down to the size of an ant?" Roxy starts to spark green. With a blinding flash, she vanishes.

"Down here!" A high pitched voice shouts as you all whip your heads around, searching the alley. Getting on your hands and knees, everyone gasps at the new miniaturized fox hybrid. "Can you do what I just did?" she squeaks. Once again, you shake your heads.

"Hmm, what about-" The speck that is Roxy begins to glow again and then starts to rapidly grow. All of you fall back on your seats when she doesn't stop. She keeps growing exponentially until only one foot fits into the narrow alley. "-This? Can you make yourself grow until you're as big as a building?" Her voice is deep and thunderous.

"No, we can't! How are _you_ doing it?"

With a bright flash, Roxy shrinks back down to normal size. "I've been able to do this eber since I was born! All half-breeds can! But for some reason you can't? Most perclueiar…" You can tell gears are turning in Roxy's head as she processes this information, but you have no idea what she's plotting. "Anyway, don't worry 'bout your clothes. I'll give 'em back, but not before you give me some answers first."

"O-okay. What do you want to know?"

"Well, fer starters, how come none of you can use the Green Lightnin'?"

You exchange glances with your friends.

"What is the 'Green Lightning'?" Dirk asks.

"What? You don'd eben know what the Green Lightening is? *Eh-hem* Don't. Even. What kinda half-breeds are you?"

"We're not half-breeds, we're hybrids. What's a half-breed?" Dave says.

"Hey, I'm askin' the questions here," Roxy pouts. "But to answer your question, a half-breed's what I am! It's what you are! Somethin' born half aminal, half hunam. *Eh-hem* Animal. Human. Now you tell me- what's a hybrid?"

"It's what… we are…" Jade whispers. "Half human, half animal. But only…. We weren't born this way."

"You weren't? Then how'd you get all those… furry parts?"

"We were born human and made into the half and half creatures. In a lab. B.E.T.A. labs."

"Woah! B.E.T.A. did this to you? I always knew there was somethin' funky 'bout them."

"You said you were born the way you were," Dave points out. "How is _that_ possible?"

Roxy gives him a sly smile. She drops her voice down to a whisper and motions for you to come closer, as if she's about to tell you a secret. "Now, I don't know all the details, but this is the best I can figure. You see, sometimes the young folk here can't take all the crowdedness of the city nor more and they just half to _get out_. The young men _especially_ build up their stress and they sometimes find relief in _practices_ with Lusii that are frowned upon, if you know what I mean."

Everyone's faces contort with disgust as you comprehend her words.

"That's… disturbing." You say. "Why would a lusus even stand for that? I thought they hated us all."

Roxy shrugs her shoulders. "Maybe some Lusii enjoy bestiality as much as my unknown father did. Maybe some Lusii are less picky 'bout their partners than others. None of them seem to care what species you are anyway, so long as you're the opposite smex. *Eh-hem*. Sex."

"They don't? They just breed with any other Lusii?"

"Yup. Lusii gametes are _very_ flexible. How else do you think you get fairy bulls and mermaid goats? Lotsa cracked pairings, I tells ya."

You're all beginning to get a little weirded out by Roxy's zoology lesson, so you ask another question to change the subject.

"You said that these people who are the, uh… parents… of half-breeds manage to get out of the city. How do they get beyond the shield?"

"Even the strongest fortress has a weak spot that allows the enemy in. _Or_ the resident out," The fox half-breed says cryptically. She winks at you. "How do you think I got in? Most half-breeds certently aren't born in the ciby. *Eh-hem* Certainly. City."

"So they are other hybr- half-breeds here in the city?" Jade asks.

"Oh yeah, hundreds!" Roxy throws up her hands to amplify. "Though you probably won't see any in the day. And ya know what? Know that I think about it, none of 'em look like you. Well, pacifically you three." She points to you, Dirk and Dave.

"Why? What's wrong with us?" Dave asks.

"I knew somethin' was off when I first saw ya. You got all this… color in your feathers and fur. All true half-breeds have plain ol' white fur."

"My feathers are white. What's wrong with me?" Dirk asks.

"Your feathers ain't all white. They got blapck tips. Plus your eyes ain't green. Green eyes are a sure fire sign you've found a half-breed 'cause no normal city folk gots 'em. And yet, outta the four of yous, only this little lady fits the requirements of a real half-breed but you still can't use the Green Lightnin' can ya?" Roxy says to Jade.

"A-actually… _I_ can, b-but no other hybrid made by B.E.T.A. has been able to," Jade confesses. "But I'm still not as good as you."

"Ah-ha! I knew one of you could do it!" She looks at all of you. "Say, what's your names anyway?"

"I'm Jade," Jade says after a bit of hesitation. "and these are Rose, Dirk and Dave."

"Good to know, good to know…" Roxy rocks on her heals as you all sit around awkwardly.

"Hey, wait a minute," Dirk suddenly says, realizing something. "You said half-breeds have fur that's all white. Your tail is pink."

Roxy checks her tail then chuckles. "Oh, that ain't my natural color. Who knew red wine would stain white fur pink? I do spend most of my day in a wine cellar, eff-why-eye. Nobody bothers it 'cause they want it to rage. Sometimes I get a little thirsty, ya know? So I just help myself to their drink." She hiccups and leans on the wall again. Looking down, you notice she happens to catch sight of the rotten apple.

"Hey, that reminds me. You four were about to eat garbage, weren't you?"

"Well, how else are we supposed to find food in the city?" Jade asks. "There's none absolutely anywhere."

"What? There's food everywhere if you know where to look. Kiddies, come with me and I'll teach ya' how to _really_ live on the streets."

Tossing the apple back into the trash bin, Roxy confidently strides into the street. You exchange another glance with your friends.

"Should we trust her?" Dave asks.

"Well, why not? I don't think it would be smart to refuse any help that comes our way," says Jade.

With no better options at hand, you once again take the risk and place your faith and safety into the arms of a stranger. Then you follow her out into the streets to begin your lessons on how to live on the streets.

"Hurry up, will ya?" You shout impatiently at Terezi. "You're moving slower than a slug!"

"I can't help it!" Terezi argues. "The smells get stronger as we move closer to the city. It's giving me a terrible migraine!"

"Then breathe through your mouth so you don't smell anything!"

"I have been! Reptiles can smell with their tongues too, you know. Everything smells a bit diluted, but there's just so many scents that it's still intense."

"Then why don't you hold your breath until you pass out and I'll carry you the rest of the way?" You say sarcastically.

"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you," Terezi's not having it. "No, we'll just keep going like we have been; slow and steady, acclimating to it a bit at a time."

You let out an impatient sigh and lean against a tree. You're wasting precious moonlight here! The glow of city lights can be seen on the horizon, but at the pace you're going, who knows how long it will be before you catch your first glimpse of urban life?

God damn it. You're so furious that the runaways managed to get to the city before you could catch them. This would undoubtedly make apprehending them eight times harder. Not only would hunting them down be more difficult, but doing it without being noticed yourself left no room for error.

Oh, well, you had no choice but to accept these factors. Besides, you're always up for a challenge.

Terezi arrives by your side, breathing deep and slow. "Christ, if you only knew what I'm going through, you'd want to go slow as well."

"Tell me then, what's it smell like?"

Terezi ponders this for a moment, trying to think up an accurate description.

"Well, the best way I can put it into words would be it's like I'm meeting every inhabitant in this city along with all their dead ancestors, all the dirty laundry they've worn for the past two weeks, and everything they've shat for the past three days, all in odor form. And that's just through my mouth. Man, I never imagined that people could smell this terrible. Can't we just bed here for the night and continue on in the morning?"

"Well, since I'm the leader, I say no. Let's keep moving. We're wasting time."

"_You're_ the leader? Since when was this declared?"

"Since always. I'm the one who's always deciding what to do next, aren't I? Anyway, you'll get used to the smells eventually. Let's keep going."

"Ugh! Fuck you and your weak sense of smell! Unlike _some_ hybrids, I have to adjust to this slowly!"

"Adjust to it along the way! Now hurry up! We're wasting moonlight! We've got to at least reach the city before the sunrises." You start progressing again, not waiting for your partner to catch up. Terezi snorts, pulls the collar of her sit over her nose to use an air filter, and does her best to keep pace.

You journey on towards the light of the city, urgently trying to reach its edge. But despite your haste, not even you can compete with the rapidly dropping temperature. Gradually your pace grows slow and sluggish. At one point you catch yourself yawning then you almost trip over your own feet. Before long _you're_ the one struggling to keep up.

"Hey Terezi, let's stop and light a fire. I'm getting too cold to move."

Terezi looks back at you for a second with a blank expression. "Hmm… Nah."

"Whaaaat? Why?"

"I don't really feel like it. Plus 'We gotta reach the city before sun rise'," she quotes you. "Lighting a fire would just slow us down."

"You little shit! You know I can't move if I get too cold! I need to warm up if we want to keep going!"

"Then why don't we just wait until you're so cold you go into hibernation and then I'll carry you the rest of the way?" The dragon hybrid goes on as she keeps walking.

"F-fuck you!" You manage to say with a shiver. You try to take a step but can't. You're too cold and are practically frozen in place. Clumsily, you sit down in the dirt. Only when Terezi realizes you've come to a halt does she turn back and join you.

"Oh, what a great idea, Vriska! I was just about to suggest we take a break for the night. It'll certainly allow me to get use to all these new smells. It's really thoughtful of you, a leader having her partner's best interests in mind."

You decide to conserve energy by not replying. Terezi fakes a shiver and gives you a knowing grin. "Brr! It's getting a bit brisk, don't you think? Perhaps I should start a campfire?"

"Perhaps you should,"

"Perhaps…" Terezi's smile grows wider. "Oooor, maybe we should just embrace this weather! The cold, crisp air certainly is refreshing, don't you think?"

"Terezi, as m-much as I want to give a fuck, and believe me I do, I th-think I'm too cold to manage even that."

"Does that mean you give in? Are you ready to get off your imaginary high-horse, call it a day and set up camp?"

"What? N-no! We're j-just taking a b-break t-to warm up then we'll b-be on our w-way again."

"Ah, I get you. Well, I'm all warmed up from this rest, so whenever you're ready to continue…"

You give Terezi a scowl of fire and daggers, but she just calmly waits for you to make your next move. Fucking mind games. You mentally run over your list of option to respond with, but can't think of one that will give you the upper hand. She's won this round and she knows it. God damn it.

Still, you don't want to give the dragon hybrid the satisfaction of victory. So you continue to sit in silence, trying to hold in there, waiting out your stalemate. But you eventually get too cold and your body shuts down.

At the exact moment Vriska went into hibernation your inner eye told you her temperature was in the danger zone. But you weren't worried. Jeez, it was about time she nodded off.

Lazily you get up to collect some tinder and kindling. You gather the material half-heartedly, taking your time to find adequate pieces, thinking of Vriska all the while.

You really wish she wasn't so prideful all the time. She was always trying to get her way or trying to be the leader or on top or number one. There were times when she and you both knew she was out of her league, yet she still tried to take control. The girl seriously needed to lighten up and realize that sometimes it was better to not be in the lead.

Like now, for example. There was no way in hell you were going to reach the city limits in one night, even if your head wasn't exploding from sensory overload. The only thing you'd accomplish would be getting exhausted and short tempered with each other. With Vriska incapacitated for now at least you'd finally get a chance to adjust to all the new exotic aromas.

You give the air an experimental sniff. Instantly it feels like someone's pounding you in between your eyes, but the uncomfortable feeling begins to fade away faster than when you first took a deep whiff of city scent. You concentrate, trying to pick out once scent from the rest… yeah, it's there. Your targets have definitely moved into suburbia.

You wonder if you could spot the city yet. There was definitely a warm splotch on the horizon to which you were headed, but you bet urban life would be more impressive higher up. Momentarily discarding your firewood on the ground, you spread your wings and ascend to the tree tops. Colder air greets you at the top, and you hover, looking for any heat.

There it is; The city, and it's more breathtaking than you imagined. Bright green and blue and yellow sky scrapers sparkling and glowing amongst the cool, velvet-black night. There were softer shades too, the pastel periwinkle and ivy houses mixing between the more intense colors, blending them into a beautiful opal gem in your inner eye. You couldn't help but float there and stare. It was such a same you couldn't gaze at it forever.

A few minutes later your wings begin to get numb. Reluctantly, you return to land, re-gather your fire wood, and head back to your partner where you dutifully start a fire. But you can't stop thinking about the city.

It was so beautiful… tomorrow you'd probably be right in the center of it, taking in all the smells and sounds it had to offer. Just the thought of this exhilarates and slightly terrifies you. Still, you were excited to explore and find all there was to be found in the strange new place, and your only worry was having enough time to discover it all before returning back to B.E.T.A. and your life behind bars.

**A/N: Midterms are coming up, and I don't think I'll be able to post any more chapters again until December. Sorry for the inconvenience. **


	18. Act Three, Scene Three

'_Day Two comes to a close, and still no progress,_'

From your window on the top of B.E.T.A. Laboratories, you watch the scarlet sun set below the horizon.

'_Every minute they're out there, the less chance we have of getting them back… or worse,'_ You continue to stare at the crimson star, calculating all the potential courses of action and their outcomes. Not many seemed favorable.

It still baffles you how all this possibly could have happened. Everything had been so carefully controlled and monitored. All your data and all your equations clearly and unarguably showed that it should not have been possible for experiment four thirteen to escape like she did. And yet the security footage did not lie. One moment – nothing. Then there she was, out of her cage and unlocking all the others before the power went out and the recording was cut off.

How could she have learned to master _the omnipotence_ so quickly? Only days before had it drained her of all her strength, leaving her utterly defenseless. But now it was like she was using it as well as _one of them…_

"Half-breeds," you mutter to yourself, squinting your eyes in detest. Those elusive naturally occurring hybrids… How you prayed to get your hands on one to dissect and study for yourself. Oh, if only you _could_ catch one and tear it apart to uncover its secrets, maybe then you could finally create a controllable omnipotent being. Maybe then you could finally fight back the demons that've terrorized you and your people for so long. Maybe then you could give these citizens the space and freedom they truly deserved.

But no. Catching a half-breed was as difficult as killing a lusus. Those wily creatures, cautious and ever on the alert, having to live a life in constant fear. Sightings were few and far between, and if one happened to be spotted they'd undoubtedly wink away before a second head would even turn or a picture could be taken.

As much as their evasiveness frustrates you, you must admit it was best for all parties when a half-breed decides to run. Although the number of incidents where a half-breed fought back was less than a handful, the witness reports and crime scenes from these cases were nothing short of gruesome.

"All that raw power, bestowed upon the unworthy hands of those pathetic excuses of life, running around on the streets, throwing it to waste. _If only_ I knew how they worked. _If only_ I could make that power mine-!"

_Knock, knock, knock, knock_

What's this? It appears there's someone brave enough to disturb you in your quarters. You immediately readjust your demeanor.

"Come in."

"Sir? I thought you'd might like to know that after tracking the course of experiments eight eighty-eight and ten twenty-five, we've discovered they're making a bee-line to the city."

"Hmm, well this complicates things."

Do you want us to contact them Sir? Tell them to cancel their search, bring them back, and send out someone less… conspicuous? "

"No, let them continue their mission. I gave them thirty days of freedom and I intend to keep my promise to them."

"But Sir, what if they're sighted? Or caught?"

"I trust that experiments eight eighty-eight and ten twenty-five are smart enough to stay out of sight."

"And the other four?"

"… I can't say the same for our escapists. Then again, maybe if our four runaways are sighted it could help us pin point their location."

"A sighting may help us, yes, but what if they're caught? You know how the public feels about anything like _them_, and if we tried to discreetly take them back, there would be suspicion. I highly suggest we mobilize _human_ teams to start searching the city."

You turn away from the window and look at your visitor for the first time. He's a bold young man with thick square glasses, a deep tan and black hair that sticks up in the front. Funny, you've known this daring lad for years but for some reason his name escapes you.

"Tell me, mister…"

"Jake English, Sir."

"Ah, yes. Tell me, Mr. English, how is that bite on your arm healing?"

Jake self-consciously rubs his left forearm, feeling the ring of scabs through the sleeve of his lab coat where four thirteen had bit him.

"Mr. English, I know you in particular would like to see our lost subjects brought back to us, but you must understand that we must go about this _Patiently_. Let's let ten twenty-five and eight eighty-eight do their job. The more people we have looking for them, the more attention we'd draw to ourselves. There's no casual way to ask the public if they've seen four particular half-breeds."

"But Sir, if they're caught, there will be questions either way. What's worse is the police are trained to shoot beings like them on sight. What if any of them are killed? We'd be losing valuable test subjects."

"Mr. English, although you were the primary care taker of the experiments from their section, I don't think you fully grasp our situation here. Tell me, how many other experiments aside from four thirteen have unlocked _the omnipotence_?"

"N-none of them, Sir,"

"And what is the only effective weapon against an omnipotent creature like a lusus?"

"Another omnipotent being, Sir,"

"Exactly. You see, Mr. English, as soon as our little lady four thirteen unlocked _the omnipotence_ all the other inhabitants here at B.E.T.A. became expendable. Yes, it would be _nice_ to get all our subjects back alive and in one piece, but if they are brought down we will experience little loss."

"Even ten twenty-five and eight eighty-eight?" Jake asks, stunned by your notion. "After sending them out after the others, you wouldn't care if you lost them? What would you do if they broke their promise and decided not to return in thirty days? Would you just keep letting them run wild?"

"You make it sound like you think I haven't planned for that scenario from the start. Trust me, I have ways prepared for dealing with experiments ten twenty-five and eight eighty-eight if they step out of line, and the very real possibility of their demise would not make me lose sleep."

"And what if four thirteen is brought down?" Jake fearlessly goes on. "Is _she_ expendable too?"

You sigh, growing impatient. "Yes… So long as we get the body back, even four thirteen is expendable." You decide it's time to change the subject. "What became of the samples we collected from her? Have they been exhausted yet?"

Jake reluctantly answers, still obviously put off by your claims. "All the hair samples we've collected have been examined for DNA. We're still trying to isolate the gene sequence that makes a being 'omnipotent', and all the blood samples have been sent to the cloning and bioengineering facilities."

"Very well. If I'm not mistaken, you are on one of the bioengineering teams, correct?"

"Yes, Sir."

"And what have you managed to recreate with four thirteen's DNA?"

Jake straightens up a little, suddenly eager to share his research. "Well, I don't mean to brag, but so far we've succeeded in creating twenty canine fetuses, spliced with the genes we predict give rise to omnipotence. With our accelerated gestation technology we hope to have results by the end of the month."

You eye English skeptically. "Canine embryos, you say? I deduct that these experiments of yours are completely animal then?"

"Well, hybridized animals, but animals none the less, yes. You see, since experiment four thirteen was predominantly canine, it only seemed logical that we'd have the best chance of success by modifying canine embryos and get a living specimen-"

"I hope you exercise extreme caution when your subjects come to term, Mr. English. You know as well as I that purely animal specimens are much more difficult to train and contain. Many often become so uncontrollable they must be exterminated."

"I know, Sir. But you can be rest assured that all the fetuses are in proper containment that will keep them efficiently restrained throughout their development."

You turn away and say nothing, purposely allowing the silence to build to make your guest uncomfortable.

"Very well then," You say precisely one full minute later. "If you believe you can handle the challenge, I'll leave you to it. I look forward to seeing your…"

"Oh, we're calling them the New Omnipotent and Intellectual Recombinants. N.O.I.R. for short."

"N.O.I.R.? Hmm… Sounds fitting." You blink a few times and realize twilight is upon you. With the sun completely set, you draw the blinds and escort your underling out of the room.

"I think we've been here long enough today. Let us all return home for the evening."

"Oh… uh, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then, Dr. Scratch."

"Goodnight lad. And take care going home. Remember, strange things lurk after dark."

With that, you leave Mr. English in the hall as you begin making your own way home. You don't look back, but you can still feel Jake's uneasy eyes follow you all the way down the corridor.


	19. Act Three, Scene Four

The streets of the city sure were a different world after dark. Roads that were once bustling with activity in the sunlight now seemed devoid of life. The sudden silence was eerie.

Well, _almost_ sudden silence. A few steps ahead of you, your new acquaintance was singing as loud and off-key as she possibly could.

"The Alternian night, is always filled with light, thanks to the two dancing moons. They waltz in the air, without a care, one for me and for you…"

"Roxy, don't you think you should turn it down a bit?" Jade asks nervously. "What if someone hears you?"

"Look around, Jade-y," Roxy argues. "Does it look like anyone's around to hear?"

"No… but you never know."

"Aw, c'mon kid! You gotta lighten' ub a little! It ain't healthily livin' in fear all the time! Trust me, nobloby's gonna hear. *eh-hem*. Nobody."

"How are you so sure?" You ask. "Where is everybody anyway?"

"In their houses, most likely. No legal citizben would be caught dead on the streets after curfnew. *Eh-hem*. Curfew."

"A Curfew?"

"Yup. Anyone out on the streets from ten p.m. to five a.m. risks being arrested or even shot."

"Why?"

"That way it's easier for the cops to find us! Everyone knows we half-breeds are more likely to risk slinking out of their hidey-holes at night. If everyone else stays insnide, we'll be as obvious as homing bacons. *eh-hem*. Beacons."

"All the more reason to be quiet then!" Jade objects. "You could get caught!"

"Naah, no one's ever been able to catch a half-bleed. We just wink somewhere else if we're seen."

"Well, that may work just fine for _you_, but not all of us here are that gifted." Dave reminds her.

"Oh yeah…" Roxy trails off for a moment before continuing her song, sticking her arms out for balance while she walked. "By light we all work, at dark Lusii lurk, but safe are we 'hind this clear wall. We dance this ballet, slaves to night and day, awaiting for freedom for all."

"Why do the police want to catch the half-breeds?" Rose inquires. "What have you ever done to them?"

"Me? I've done nothin'. But e'ery so often some extra aggressive hot-head half-bread comes along and hasta fuck shit up for everybody.

"Ya' see, everything that can use the Green Lightning can do more than just telesport and grow and shrink and whatever. We have the potential to obliterate anything with the green lightning. If we didn't keep such good control over ourselves, we could easily level every building here with a snap of our fingers. Or, you know, whatever you got for fingers. In fact, if we're not careful, one sneeze could explode everything within a mile radius. It all boils down to us being too insnanely powerful. Most of us would never dream of hurting the place we call 'refuge', but there'll still be that one half-breed that flips out and causes us all to be labeled as emeny numner one." The more Roxy talks, the more agitated she becomes. "It's not our fault we each have the capacity to desproy the city with the bat of an eye. We can't helf that we were born this way, but the people here would rather not take any chanceses. They'd sooner see us dead than try to make peace."

"R-really?" Jade whispers.

"Yep. 'Kill first, ask questions later.' That's this police department's motto. Oh look, we've arrived at our destintation."

Everyone takes a quick look at your surroundings, and to your surprise, Roxy has lead you back to the center of the city.

"Why did you guide us back here? If there's any place law enforcement would be patrolling, don't you think it'd be in the center of the city?" Rose asks.

"Of course they would!" Roxy explains. "But this is also where the food is, so we gotta take a trance. *Eh-hem*, chance. Just stipck close to me and you'll be fine."

Roxy confidently strides right up to the massive intergalactic ship and waves for you to come over. You all cautiously move to join her.

"Hold hands, everybody!" She commands you, grabbing yours and Jade's. Before you can protest, you're winked out of existence.

The next think you know, you're all inside the ship. You look yourself over. You've still got all your limbs, and aside from a little light headedness you seem to have suffered no permanent damage from the transition.

"Whoa, warn somebody next time you're gonna do that!" Dave complains. Roxy pretends not to hear.

"Follow me kiddies. The munchies and crunchies are this way."

You stick close to the fox half-breed's side as she expertly makes her way through the near pitch black. "Hurry, now! There probably are some cops patrolling the inside of the building!" A few tense minutes later, she stops at a clear door. Beyond it, isles of produce as far as your eyes could see.

She looks back at you. "The door's locked, so on three, 'kay?"

"What?"

"One!"

"Wait-"

"Two!"

'Roxy-"

"Three!" She flashes and for a brief moment there's only green. As fast as it appeared it was gone. You blink several times. You're on the other side of the door. Almost immediately, Roxy holds her arms up and keeps you pressed against the shadow of the wall. She puts one digit to her lips as a sign of silence. Before you can question why, a beam of light from a torch shines through the clear door, hovers there for a moment, then disappears. Once it's gone, Roxy eases away from the shadows.

"Boy, they're getting' sloppier every night. Now they don't even bother to actually look in the window."

"Stop teleporting us without telling us first!" Dave hisses.

"I did tell you that time, birdbrain!" Roxy snaps back. "I gave you until the count of three. Now we're inside, wave to the camera!" Roxy points out a security camera directly above you. Everyone gives her a look of horror. "Chill-_ax_ people! We're in its blind splot. Now listen closely or it _will_ catch sight of you.

"Okay, first thing ya' gotta know is that this is what a grocery store looks like. It's best you commit its details to mem'ry. 'Specially you, Jade-y."

"Why?"

"You'll see why in good time. Now, the most important thing to keep in mind when snatchin' your snacks is to not be sneen. *Eh-hem*, seen. Getting caught by the cam will mean a whole lotta trouble not only for you, but for every half-breed in this fair city. There are two ways not to get caught; stay in the plind spot, or shrink yourself down 'till you're incompiscous enough. Since none of y'all can use the Green Lightning, 'cept Jade-y here, we're just gonna shtick with option number one."

Roxy pushes herself close to Jade and throws an arm around her. "Tell me, Jade. Anything here cratch your eye? *eh-hem*, catch."

"I-I don't know. There are so many things here I've never seen before."

"Well, let's start with something simple. See that stand of apples over there? Since you love apples so much and all. Now, I want you watch me and do what I do."

Roxy focuses on the apple stand and squints her eyes. She raises her paw and summons an apple into her palm.

"Now the key is to imagine an apple in the _center_ of the pile. Whisking one away from the top could be seen on the camera. Same thing applies for the stuff on the shelves. You wanna take boxes from the back of the shelf. Now you try, Jade-y."

"But I don't know how-"

"Just imagine an alpple buried underneath all the others. Imagine reaching waaaay down there and pulling it out form the bottom. But you really gotta want this apple. The worse you crave it, the easier it'll be for you to summon it. At least until you've had more practice."

Jade narrows her eyes and concentrates. Slowly, her hands begin to glow green. They continue to glow brighter and brighter until-

_Flash!_

Jade gasps in surprise. Her arms are completely filled will apples.

"Hopy shit!" Roxy exclaims. "I said imagine _one_ apple, not a truck load."

"I'm sorry! I got nervous and kept thinking of more and more."

With a sigh, Roxy waves her paw and dismisses the extra fruit. "We'll hang on to a few of these. Now let's move on to the isles.

Another important thing you need to know about grocery shopping is never take canned goods unless you have claws or teeth sharp enough to open them. You also want to stay away from food that needs any kind of preparation and cooking, unless you know how to lightly irradiate it, but I'd advrise against it. So which do you prefer, salty or sweet?"

"Um…"

"What the heck, why not both?" Roxy appearifys two boxes, one in each hand. In her right, a box of cookies. In her left, a box of crackers. She hands them to you. "Hmm, we'll need something to drink with this. How about… fruit juice, soda, milk, and my favorite, wine." Pulling each carton, and bottle out of thin air, Roxy quickly passes them off to Rose and Dave.

"Another note, avoid foods that will spoil easily, like eggs and milk unless you're going to meat them right away. *eh-hem* Eat. Ya' know what? This is a special occasion. Let's indulge a little." Roxy grabs some bread, deli meats, cheeses, spreads, fruit, vegetables, sweets, chips and a variety of other foods you can't name until her arms are so laden she can't see anything in front of her.

"Okay, now we go home. I'm just gonna cut to the chase and teleprot us straight there, and then we're gonna party!" Once again, without warning, Roxy spirits you away, and the security cam continues its silent vigil, having not seen a thing.

XXX

The first thing you notice about Roxy's "home" is the dark and damp. Grumbling, Roxy shuffles around, clanking and bumping into things hidden in the blackness.

"Now where's that gog damn light switch… Ah! Found it!"

There's a click, and a faint orange light bulb flickers on, struggling to illuminate the gloom. All around you are bottles. Wine bottles, champagne bottles, whiskeys, vodkas, spirits, ales, ciders, and liquors, each in their own little diamond niche on a shelf.

"So this… is a wine cellar?" Dirk asks.

"More or less. It's got more than just wine, anyway. Everyone, welcome to Booze central! Just throw your stuff down anywhere." Leading by example, Roxy dumps everything she was holding, save for a bag of chips. Then she makes herself comfortable on top of a wine barrel and proceeds to eat them.

"So, do you do this every night?" You ask.

"Do what?"

"Go out and steal all this food then come and hide here."

"It's not stealing," Roxy quickly replies, almost defensively. "It's more or less forcing these pleople to share what they have until they realize we're no threat to them. The real stealers are the ones who will go into people's homes and take food from there instead of the store, and that's really bad." The fox half-breed's voice begins to trail off. "If anything, what I do is a fight against prejudice. If you really think about it, the humans in this city are trying to kill us for what we are. How are we supposed to survive? We only do what we have to because they leave us no other choice."

"Surely there must be another way to earn their trust," Jade says.

"Sorry Jade-y, but there ain't. Why would they ever bother? We're perfect scapegoats for practically everything. If they started seeing us as 'real people', who would they blame for when things go wrong? Heaven forbid they take responsibility for their own fuck ups."

There's a moment of silence.

"Blah, why are we talkin' about all this mopey stuff?" Roxy says light heartedly. "We got food and we weren't caught. Let's just enjoy being alive. Pass me that bottle of wine, will ya?"

The rest of the night was spent trying new foods and talking in hushed tones about all you had seen that day. Roxy was surprisingly knowledgeable about what was what in the city despite having to raise herself. Still, you weren't entirely sure how much she said was creditable.

She told you about schools and fashion and sports and instruments and home appliances and children's toys and anything else the four of you could recollect.

"Roxy, why is it that there is only one place to get food in the city?" Rose asks. "Has it always been that way?"

"As far as I can remember, yes. They keep it concentrated to one place for security reasons."

"Let me guess, to make it easier to find half-breeds?" you deduce.

"Partially," Roxy winks. "It's also done this way to keep regulation on the people."

"Really?"

"Yup. The best way to contrail a population is through their stomachs. *eh-hem* Control. You may not have noticed, but that grocery store was much too small to feed a ciby this size. Most see it as a luxury to be label to buy food from there. *eh-hem* Able.

"In fact, most everyone lives entirely off of the government rations given to every house hold once a month. Only those who are higher up on the social labber can afford extra food."

"Everyone's food is rationed?" Rose notes. You study her face and can almost see her mind processing this information.

Roxy nods. "Still, even those who have the money to buy more food usually don't the price of all this shtuff is through the roof."

"But… Why?"

Roxy shrugs. "I dunno. I do know that people can pay a pretty heavy fine if they are caught wasting or littering their food stuffs though. Makes me wonder who was the brave soul who discarded that first apple you guys found."

"This city is more fucked up than I thought," you mutter.

Believe me, buddy, you don't know the half of it." You all wait for Roxy to go on. She doesn't.

"So… tell me more about where _you're_ from."

"Well, uh, we don't really know. After being abandoned, life at B.E.T.A. is all we knew."

"Why'd they mutate you into freaks like us half-breeds, then?"

"To one day fight Lusii," Jade says darkly. "We would be sent off to die so they wouldn't have to, but only if we knew how to use _the Omnipotence_ like they did." Jade hugs her knees, trying hard not to remember her time at B.E.T.A. "So many died after they learned how I first did it. And more probably have after we escaped."

"Man, that's all kinds of whack," Roxy throws in. "You can't even summon one measly ol' apple without fuckin' it up. How do they expept you to kill a lusus?" Roxy hops down from her wine barrel and sits next to Jade. "Ya' know, you're all real lucky I found ya' 'afore someone else did. I gotta show you the ropes! Teach ya' how to be a real half-breed and how to use the Green Lightning and all that Jazz. Whaddaya say?"

"You… you can do that?"

"Why not? Who better to teach you how to use the Green Lightning than someone who already knows how to do it?"

"But… Why?"

"Why do you have to ask why? Can't a person just help someone to be nice?"

Some little nagging feeling, an intuition, is setting off a warning in your mind.

"If you really need a reason, then let's just say it's 'cause I don't want you four runnin' around inadvertently causin' grief for the nest of us. *eh-hem* Rest. Capiche?"

You narrow your eyes in suspicion. There's something more Roxy isn't telling you. You can't fathom what, but you can glimpse it in her sly fox eyes. You don't know what the fox half-breed is planning, but your heart is telling you _'watch out'_.

You turn to Jade. She's looking at Roxy not with caution, but with hope.

"I'd… really appreciate that." She says sheepishly. "Good! Then it's settled!" Roxy pats her on the back. "We'll start our lessons tomorrow leavening, late and hazy. Now let's get some shut eye."

Roxy pulls the cord of the light bulb then hops atop her wine barrel and settles in for the day. You shift closer to Jade.

"Jade, you're not going to like this, but I think there's something off with Roxy." You whisper.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I… I don't know. It's something in the way she talks. Something about the way her eyes move that makes me feel that there's something she's not telling. I don't like it."

"But Dave, she just gave us food and shelter. She even _offered_ to help _me_ learn how to use _the Omnipotence_. When will I get a chance like this again?" Jade points out. "She's doing all this out of good will and you don't trust her?"

"No, because I think she has a hidden agenda, some other motive."

"Isn't this how you also felt about Karkat? You shouldn't Judge people you've just met, Dave. You don't really know them."

"Nor do you!" You whisper harshly. "You shouldn't just blindly trust everyone you meet. You don't really know them either. Look, I'm only trying to look out for you. For all of us, okay? I don't want to see anyone get hurt because we trusted the wrong people."

"But she hasn't wronged us yet, and until she does, I'm going to believe her words. Now let me sleep. I've got a lot to do tomorrow."

"But-"

"Good night, Dave."

It was no use. Jade refuses to respond to you and curls up on the floor. You slide back over to your own spot and do your best to get comfortable. Maybe Jade was right. Maybe you do need to be a little more trusting. Then again, maybe she should be a little more cautions. Karkat had also warned you that being alert could save your neck.

Too tired to focus, you push the thoughts aside. You made a mental not to keep an eye on your new "friend" in the following days, but drifted into sleep praying your suspicions were wrong.


	20. Act Three Scene Five

There was still so much you wanted to learn and know about the city and its people and outcasts. Heck, you didn't even know the city's name or if it had one. How did it work? Why did it work? What kept this fragile coexistence between enemies stable? Questions burned within you but no matter how many times you attempted to ask them, your only source of information would cleverly evade you.

High up on a roof top the five of you watched as people began returning to their homes in the late evening sun. Roxy had teleported you here to begin her lessons on "living on the streets" although you weren't entirely sure how reliable her teaching methods were.

"We're terribly exposed up here," you say to Roxy. "Aren't you worried about being spotted?"

"Naw, the people never bother to look up. And even if they did what are they gonna do? Up here we got nice fresh air, yet we're still pretty invisible. Plus, being up high is a great vantage point in any swituation. *eh-hem* situation. It lets you see who's coming at ya from all sides." She turned her attention to Dirk and Dave who stood precariously close to the edge of the roof with their eyes fixated on the ground below. "You two gonna jump or what?"

"It is tempting," Dirk told her. Roxy rolled her eyes then turned to Jade who was waiting for instruction.

"Okay! So let's get started with lesson number one! Which is… Umm… uhh…" The fox half-breed scratched her head, pursed her lips and wrinkled her brow. "Well shit, where do I start?"

"How about you practice moving stuff with the omnipotence," you suggest.

"Hey, who's the teacher here? Oh that's right, I am." Roxy snaps at you. "Now go join your boys while I help Jade-y here practice moving stuff with the Green Lightning."

Taken by surprise by her attitude, you warily join Dave and Dirk, but don't take your eye off of Roxy while she works with Jade.

Roxy would materialize dozens of objects and Jade had to take them from her. Small objects were no problem, but the bigger they became, the harder Jade had to focus. Meanwhile you and the boys sat idly by, watching as the two pulled things out of thin air then sent them away again. You had to admit it was rather…. Boring.

When the sun had completely set and the air grew cool Roxy decided it was time for a break.

"Well that's enough warming up. Let's get down to real business."

"That was a _warm up?_ " Jade panted, but Roxy didn't hear her.

"I'm starving," Roxy said as she stretched out her arms. "Let's get something to eat before we get started with the tough stuff."

Just like the previous night, Roxy treated you all to an all-you-could-eat buffet of every kind of food the grocery store had to offer and feasted back on the roof top.

"If half-breeds are such a problem for the city I'm surprised they don't take more measures to keep you from stealing the food from that store," you say between bites of a sandwich.

"That's 'cause we make sure not to leave too much evidence behind," Roxy explains. "Ya see, this city's got an agenda of 'Shit That Needs to Be Fixed'. Now, I'm not much for politics but it's got something to do with 'govermet' and 'policy making' I think. Dealing with half-breeds is on that list, but it's pretty far down because we're not the biggest problem they have to deal with at the moment. That space is always reserved for the mean, evil Lusii and that's where most of the attention and resources are focused. So as long as we half-breeds do our thing without bothering the bublic too much, they'll leave us on the back burner to deal with later. *eh-hem* Public." Roxy stopped for a minute to take a swig of alcohol. "Now, if all the half-breeds were to do something like, ban together and start pillaging and destroying the city, you can bet your tails they'd immediately crack down on us and do everything within their power to choke us out."

"How do you know all this?" Dirk asks in awe.

"I used to have a friend who wouldn't shut up about that kind of stuff," she mumbled.

"A friend? Were they another half-breed?" Jade asked.

"'Used too'?" Dave whispered.

"Eh, that's all personal stuff," Roxy said, waving her paw in the air to dismiss their questions.

And just when you thought you were going to learn a little more about your new friend. You suppress a sigh of annoyance.

After everyone's hunger is satiated, Roxy helps Jade practice teleporting herself places. And once again you, Dave and Dirk have nothing to do but sit and observe.

Every time the pair takes a break you try to strike up conversation and attempt to pry more information from Roxy about the city. But the more you ask, the more obvious it becomes to you Roxy doesn't want to answer.

After a long night of exercise the first faded rays of morning light begin to overtake the darkness.

"Welp, it looks like it's time to call it quits for one day," Roxy says when she notices the approaching morning. "But I've got an idea for one last drill."

"Shoot," Jade says determinedly.

"How 'bout you take us all home?" Roxy challenged.

"Oh, I-I don't think I'm strong enough yet to move that many…"

"Okie dokie then. In that case, just get yourself home!" Before anyone could protest, Roxy snaps her fingers and whisks you, Dave and Dirk back to the wine cellar. It takes you a moment to realize what had just happened.

"What the-! Did you just leave Jade behind?!" Dave snaps.

"Yep."

"How could you!"

"It's her final exercise for today. She didn't think she could manage getting all of us back, so I lightened her load. Now she only has to teleport herself!"

"But what if she can't? What if she gets caught or-"

"Relax! It's like you don't believe she can do it."

You notice Dave had no reply for that. Seconds pass by painfully slow, but just when you were about to demand Roxy fetch Jade did she suddenly appear in the room.

"See! I told ya' she could do it," Roxy sneers at Dave. Dave just glares at the fox half-breed before turning to Jade.

"Jade, are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry." Jade says breathlessly. "I got nervous and couldn't picture the cellar clearly which made it harder to jump back." She smiled wide. "But look! I did it!"

"Yeah! Congrats, Jade! You're a natural. Tomorrow we'll be doing even harder stuff so get some shut eye. G'night!"

You exchange a glance with Dave and Dirk. It was obvious none of you liked the prank Roxy had pulled but the four of you were safe and together again, so there was nothing left you could really worry about.

Jade retired to bed without a second thought. Reluctantly, you followed suit, getting as comfortable as you could before drifting off to sleep.

'_Look on the bright side,_' you think to yourself. _'Tomorrow means another day and another chance to get more information out of Roxy… Or at least attempt it,'_

With that in mind, you close your eyes and fall asleep.

Rose never got the chance to ask Roxy any more questions because Roxy did something the next evening that caught everyone off guard.

"Okay, from here on out, I'm taking Jade-y off on my own. She needs to focus and you three are nothing but distactions. *eh-hem* Distractions."

"What? How are we distractions? We didn't bother you two at all yesterday," Dirk argues.

"Yeah, while we was practicing, you weren't. But as soon as we took a break you bombarded me with questions and concerns and wouldn't give me a true minutes peace," Roxy's eyes lock with Rose's for a second. "Besides, do you know how pressuring it is just to have someone watching your every move? I need Jade to be as relaxed as poseable. *eh-hem* Possible. And since you three can't be of any help, it would just be better to leave you here."

"Jade, are you just going to stand there and let her leave us behind?" You ask harshly.

Jade looked from you to Roxy, obviously torn between defending her friends or staying on her instructor's good side.

"Well, less of us out there would man less risk of being seen…" She says nervously.

"Right! Roxy cut Jade off. "Good thinking, Jade! Safety always comes first and if they stay behind, we'll know they'll be safe and sound until we get back. Welp! See ya" later!" With that, Roxy winked away with Jade, leaving you behind, helplessly trapped in the cellar.

You waited. You had nothing to do but wait. And while you waited you let a bad mood simmer in your brain. You already didn't trust Roxy and a move like that made you trust her even less. But what could you do about it? Roxy was too quick for you. She ended arguments before they could even start and was careful never to answer questions that would reveal something about her or the city that she obviously didn't want you to know. And you hated to admit it, but Jade did need a teacher and you did need whatever shelter you could get. Still, you hated having to risk going out on a limb and putting your faith in someone whom you didn't know their intentions.

After what seemed like a mind-numbingly long time later, Roxy and Jade finally returned.

"It's about time you got back," you say relieved. "I think I was about to go stir crazy."

"Guys, you won't believe what Roxy taught me to do!" Jade said excitedly.

"Before you start your story, can we all get something to eat? Being stuck in a cellar all day made me surprisingly hungry," Dirk says.

After a quick trip for food, Roxy decided to have a picnic in the park under the stars. Jade excitedly tells you all how Roxy taught her to suspend objects in the air and even gave you a demonstration. You had to admit it was impressive.

"Jade takes to it like a pro!" Roxy boasted. "And I really think the one-on-one time is helping. At this rate she'll be a master in no time."

You couldn't argue with the results, no matter how much you hated being left behind. If Jade really did learn faster this way then who were you to argue that you should be included in their training sessions?

Over the next few days it was the same routine. You woke up in the evening, Roxy and Jade went off on their own, you stayed behind until they got back, and then you all went out to eat. Jade was always eager to share what she had learned or practiced that day, and you were always happy to watch, until one day Jade and Roxy came back with a surprise.

"Merry Christmas!" Roxy cheers, handing each of you a large bag. "Go ahead! Open them up and see what we got ya!"

You hesitantly obeyed. Inside the bags were… clothes?

"You stole clothes?" You ask suspiciously.

"Yep! From a second hand thrift shop. They won't be missed. Jade picked them all out herself."

"This… isn't right," Dirk says. "We shouldn't be stealing clothes, only the things we need to keep living, like food."

"But everyone needs new clothes once in a while! Your current ones are getting pretty worn and smelly."

"But the more things we steal, the greater the risk we put ourselves in for being found out." Rose argues. "We don't absolutely need new clothes to survive. Why take the chance?"

"I thought it would help us blend in better if we ever go out amongst people," Jade tries to explain. "I don't want to live hiding in this cellar forever, only going out at night…"

"Yeah, Jade was just trying to do something nice for all'a yous, so stop being so mean! Come on, cheer up! Pass me a drink, will ya? Let's have a little party."

You glare at Roxy in disapproval as she proceeds to throw a celebration for nothing. As for Jade, you only feel disappointment for making a bad decision. It wasn't entirely her fault, though. Roxy was a bad influence and you knew it.

A strange thing happened that evening. Roxy continued to get more intoxicated than you had ever seen her be, and the more she drank, the looser her lips became.

"Man, I know it ain't really Christmas yet, but it sure is gettin' colder out there," she said in slurred speech. "almost as cold as th' winter I first came 'ere. I'll never forget it."

"How did you come to live in the city?" Rose asked, seizing an opportunity. "Where did you grow up here? Who raised you?"

"Ah, man," The fox half-breed took a swig before continuing. "Pure dumb stupid luck. I was so foolish and cold. If i' had been anyone else I would prob'ly be dead and d'sected by now. Ha ha, what a sight I must've been to her, all naked and scared. Yep. T'day's the anniversary of when we met, but even the strong liquor can't make me f'rget." Roxy paused and sighted. "Oh, Callie, you were an angel. Yeah, that's what she was. A guardian angel."

"Who was Callie?" Rose asked quietly. Roxy closed her eyes and shook her head. "She found me half frozen along the permimiter of th' shield. I had to have been no older than five."

"Was Callie the friend you mentioned before?" Rose dared to ask again.

"Yep. She raised me up good. Taught me to speak and was th' best friend I e'er had. She was th' only friend I e'er had…" Roxy's mood suddenly shifted. What was once fond remembrance turned into tears of despair.

"Oh, dear sweet Calliope," Roxy cried. "Why'd you e'er trust your brother with our secret? Turned ya' in for harboring th' enemy and ended up condemning you both. I'll never forgive that bastard. And me too. I ran away, t' save my own skin. I should have tried to help you." A painful silence followed as Roxy's story sank in. Rose didn't ask any more questions. Roxy cried herself to sleep. With your small party suddenly over, you too decided it was time to sleep as well.

The next day Roxy woke up chipper as ever. Either the alcohol had given her amnesia or she was really good at acting, but she showed no signs of remembering the things she had said the night before. Without wasting a minute she and you left for the day and the cycle of waiting began again for your friends left behind.

Ever since that first night you and Roxy came back with more things, like more clothes. Then appliances. Roxy always claimed it was to help make life easier. With a portable gas stove they could cook food, thus expanding their meal options, and stealing heavy coats would be vital for the winter months ahead.

Dave protested, Dirk protested, Rose protested, but there was always an excuse. "It's giving Jade experience," or "You'll need this to live" were the most used.

You felt bad about stealing, you admit, but Roxy was good with words. Her reasoning for all the things you took sounded so plausible. And you were practically helpless when she said "This would make a great gift for your friends."

You felt so guilty about leaving them behind every day. Still, you weren't brave enough to defy Roxy and bring them with you. You still had so much to learn from her and it was obvious Roxy didn't want them slowing you two down when she was teaching you something. What if she refused to teach you if you brought them along? It was best to play it safe for now…

But as time went on Roxy began having you steal more trivial things. Things of pleasure like toys or Jewelry. You dared not to ask why, but became more uneasy with each robbery.

"Hey Jade, check out the lineup they have in these stores!" Roxy called to you one night. You cupped your paws around your eyes and peered through the glass of a department store which sold an array of clothes and shoes. Roxy gave a whistle. "Man, these clothes are so rad! Let's get some to treat ourselves for training so hard."

"But Roxy, we already have enough clothes. And aren't high end stores more heavily surveillance than thrift stores?"

"Pfft, don't be a wuss. Come on." Without waiting for an answer, Roxy winked herself inside. You dutifully followed.

The fox half-breed tiptoed down the aisles and between the racks of clothes, eyeing them like she would a piece of dessert. "Hmm, I'll have one of these, and a pair of these, and a couple of these," Roxy waved her hand and deposited article after article of clothing into your arms. The pile got so high, you could barely see where you were going.

"Now to the foot ware! Jade, hurry, come over here!"

You shuffled after Roxy as best you could, but being practically blind you made the fatal mistake of bumping into a mannequin, causing both you and the display to topple to the ground.

And then an alarm went off.

"Oh, shit," Roxy hissed as she backed toward the door. "I gotta get out of here."

"Wait! Help me!" you cry desperately, trying to crawl out from beneath the pile of clothes.

"Sorry, Jade. It's every half-breed for themselves in a situation like this. See ya! Wouldn't wanna be ya!" And just like that, Roxy winked away, abandoning you in the store.

Terror shot through you. The alarm and your fear prevented you from being able to focus long enough to teleport yourself away. Too scared to think straight, you fought your way out of the tangle of clothes and rushed to the door. You froze at the entrance. On the other side of the glass, police cars and sirens were closing in. As if in a dream, you watched as they surrounded the only exit. One officer jumped out and pointed a gun at your head through the glass.

You can see his eyes widen in shock as he alerts the others.

"Men! Get your arms! It's a half-breed!"


End file.
